Omnia Vincit Amor
by MadameAnnabeth
Summary: The rebellions begin on the first day of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. How will it affect Katniss and the rest of the tributes? Katniss/Cato. Sequel is about to begin.
1. Chapter 1

**The rebellions begin on the first day of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. How will it affect Katniss and the rest of the tributes? Katniss/Cato**

Katniss inhaled deeply as she stood on the platform. Her eyes darted around to meet with Cinna's. He smiled at her but she could see the sadness and regret in his eyes. They had grown close over the past few days and she knew that she looked absolutely terrified. When it started moving upwards, her hands planted on the glass and she looked around helplessly, trying to find any way out. When she looked upon Cinna for the last time, he nodded at her. Then he disappeared from view as she felt wind meet her face.

The first thing that she noticed was the smell of pine trees. Relief flooded through her when she realized that a forest surrounded them. She might actually survive past the first day in this habitat if she could get away from the Cornucopia. Her eyes flickered around at the other tributes, sizing them up for the last time. She kept her eyes trained on the careers for the longest. They all looked thrilled as if this was their birthday and the rest of us were their presents, presented to them on a silver platter to mutilate and kill viciously.

When she met Peeta's gaze, she saw something glint behind him. A bow and arrow were leaning against a backpack. She stared at it longingly but saw Peeta shaking his head desperately as if to say, _follow Haymitch's advice and run._ She cursed in her head as she faced the forest once more. There was an orange backpack in between her and her destination. That would have to do as long as she got there first. Her heart raced as she waited for the eventual sound of the gong. As soon as it filled the arena, her legs were pushing her forward as fast as she could go.

Her eyes burned as tears flew down her face. Katniss couldn't help it. She felt utterly devastated. Her mind went to Prim and her mother. To Gale back home. To the boy with the bread who claimed to love her. She went along with it for the public but something felt so wrong about it. Katniss shook her head as she bent her body to the ground to retrieve the backpack. Another hand shot out at the same time. Katniss stood to look at her competitor, trying to ignore the screaming and shouts that she heard from behind her.

Muddy brown eyes that looked panicked met hers. He was younger than her and she thought that he might have been the boy from District 9. His eyes pleaded with her to let him have the pack because he would have virtually nothing else. Suddenly he cried out and collapsed into her arms. Katniss looked in horror at the knife that was buried in his thigh. She looked up to see the District 2 girl grinning maniacally at them. She didn't know why but she needed to help this boy.

"Run." She urged him as the girl unsheathed another knife that was situated on her belt.

"I can't." the boy whimpered. Katniss yanked him behind her and held up the backpack as the knife came sailing through the air towards them. It lodged in the center of the backpack.

"Thanks for the knife." She muttered before seizing the boy's arm and yanking him towards the forest.

Out of the corner of her eye Katniss saw someone tackle the District 2 girl and she sighed with relief that she would no longer target them. They were slowed down considerably because the boy was limping and crying loudly at the pain. The knife was still buried in his leg because Katniss didn't give him enough time to pull it out. Once they reached the trees, she braced him against the tree and ripped the knife out of the pack before slinging it over her shoulder. Then she looked around for any immediate danger.

When she saw that they were alone, she glanced back at the Cornucopia. It was a bloodbath, as it always was. The scarlet liquid was splattered all over the golden structure. She turned away from it with a shake of her head. Then she turned to the boy.

"We need to find water." He looked up at her with surprise in his clouded eyes.

"We?" he croaked.

Katniss nodded and then bent down. She handed him a thick branch.

"What is this for?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"To hold between your teeth." She said as she studied the wound.

"Why?" he asked hesitantly.

"Because I am about to pull this knife out of your leg and it's going to hurt." Katniss said frankly.

His eyes widened in panic as he put the branch in between his teeth.

"Bite down hard and try your best not to scream. We can't have anyone hear us right here. We're not exactly hidden very well but I think everyone has cleared out. We can't take any choices though." She said, staring into his eyes as if to give him an idea of the seriousness of the situation.

He nodded slowly and his hand shot out and clenched hers as she gripped the knife with her dominant hand.

"1… 2…" Katniss didn't wait for three, knowing that he would be anticipating the pain.

Instead she yanked it out right as she said two. He screamed in pain and his hand squeezed hers so hard she thought she felt her bones grinding together. She bit her lip so hard it drew blood as he sobbed quietly. Suddenly she heard a twig snap and she was on her feet with both knives in her hand. One covered in blood and the other clean.

A female about her age stepped out, her eyes wide and her hands covered in blood. When she caught sight of Katniss, she froze. Katniss remembered that she was from District 3. A whimper escaped her lips and Katniss lowered her knives.

"Run." Was the only warning she gave her.

The girl immediately obeyed, tripping over roots and branches. Katniss turned and looked at the boy, sympathetic to the tears running down his face. His sobs had diminished into heaving breathing and a few whimpers.

"We have to move." Katniss said, bending down and ripping a strip off of his t-shirt and forming a tourniquet around his thigh just above the knife wound.

"This will probably numb your pain. You should be thankful that it didn't hit your femoral artery." She murmured, remembering some of the words her mother used.

"Would that be bad?" the boy gasped as she tightened the fabric around his leg.

"You would be bleeding out very quickly." Katniss said, hoisting him up and holding his hand as he tested out how much weight he could put on the leg.

"At least it wouldn't be slow." He groaned right before he fell into her waiting arms.

Katniss bent down and took most of his weight, allowing him to hobble along beside her.

"You should leave me behind. I'm slowing you down and I'm probably going to die anyways." The boy mumbled.

Katniss shook her head stubbornly. She didn't know why she was helping this kid but she was and that was all that mattered.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked as if reading her mind.

"Because." She said simply.

"I hate that answer." He said, wrinkling his nose to make him look like the child he was.

"What's your name?" she asked, changing the subject from her act of kindness.

"Imanol." He said simply.

"Katniss." She replied in the same simple way.

He giggled and looked at her.

"That's a silly name." he laughed.

Katniss pretended to look offended and he laughed more.

"A katniss happens to be a very pretty flower." She informed him.

He nodded and didn't say anything. Katniss fell silent too as they walked through the woods. Her thoughts went to how pissed off Haymitch probably was at that moment. He was probably cursing her out on the screen, screaming about how stupid she was being, taking an injured boy under her wing on the first day. She let out a little snort at the thought of his red face and the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"What's funny?" Imanol asked.

"Oh nothing." She shook her head.

After about thirty minutes he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Katniss asked.

"I think I can walk on my own, the pain has gone away a little bit." He said, testing the leg.

He started walking without her but had a pronounced limp. At that moment, cannons started firing. That must have meant that everyone had finally left the Cornucopia and the bloodbath was over. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. They stopped. Katniss stopped and looked around in confusion. The echo of the last cannon disappeared and then there was nothing. Something was wrong, she felt it. She had been able to count more than six motionless bodies from her vantage point on the edge of the woods.

"What's wrong?" Imanol asked, repeating her same question from a few moments ago.

"Something is wrong." She murmured.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"The cannons." She said, looking at his confused dark eyes.

"More people died than that." she informed him.

He shrugged. "Maybe it's just a malfunction. It happens all the time." he said before he started walking.

Katniss shook her head and began walking again. He was probably right. Ten minutes later the cannons began firing again and Imanol looked at her with a triumphant look. She stopped and counted the blasts. Five more. That makes eleven dead. Thirteen left. Eleven besides her and Imanol. She sighed and wondered who it was. The careers were probably all left. They usually banded together to kill as many as possibly in the bloodbath before hunting everyone else down and then turning on each other.

Then her mind turned to Peeta.

"Are you thinking about the boy from your district, the one who loves you?" Imanol asked.

Katniss grimaced and nodded.

"He's probably alive. He seems smart." Imanol said, taking her grimace to mean that she was worried instead of frustration that everyone focused on Peeta's surprise confession.

"What about the girl from your district?" Katniss asked, trying to change the subject.

"Annie." He said softly, his eyes downcast. "She died back there. I saw the boy from District 1 kill her." he mumbled.

Katniss swallowed hard. "How old was she?" she asked.

"Fourteen, like me. We were at school together. Everyone liked her." he said regrettably.

Katniss shook her head. She hated this game with a passion. A perfectly nice fourteen-year-old girl was dead. Her parents would never see her alive again. All of her friends and classmates would only have memories of her, a shadow in their minds. She shook off her anger and turned to the direction they'd been walking.

"Let's find water." She urged softly.

"Yeah." Imanol nodded.

They continued to walk for about two hours, staying completely silent except for Katniss asking after his leg. The sun began to go down just as Katniss and Imanol began to be bothered by mosquitoes. They groaned angrily as they swatted at them.

"I hate mosquitoes." Katniss grumbled as she slapped one trying to land on her arm.

Suddenly she stopped and gasped.

"What?" Imanol demanded, turning in a circle to catch sight of whatever threat Katniss saw.

"Mosquitoes!" she exclaimed quietly.

"What about them?" Imanol asked hesitantly, staring at her as if she was crazy for getting excited about the annoying bug.

"Water!" she said excitedly before pausing. The sound reached her ears almost instantly.

"This way." she said, taking off towards the sound.

She could almost cry for relief when she saw the babbling brook. She collapsed on a rock and dipped her hands in the cool liquid. Imanol sat on a rock next to her. He cupped his hands in the water but Katniss nudged him and shook her head as she unzipped the pack. Luckily, a hard metal bottle and a small container of iodine drops.

She dipped the bottle into the water and added a few drops of the liquid in the water before shaking it up. Then she handed it to Imanol first, knowing that he needed it more because he was losing blood. It was showing in his pale, drawn face. She bent over his leg to check it, dismayed to see it swollen and still leaking blood. She undid the tourniquet and pressed it to the wound, causing him to hiss in pain and grasp at her wrist.

"Give me the water." She demanded as she ripped the pants leg open a bit.

She poured the ice-cold water on the wound, hoping that it would numb it at least a little bit. Katniss casted her eyes around the area surrounding them, finding that it was thick with trees.

"We'll camp a little bit over from here tonight." She said, wanting to be by the water just in case.

She checked in the pack and found one sleeping bag. Both her and Imanol were small enough that they could fit in it together. She looked up at the tall trees and bit her lip.

"Can you climb trees?" she asked, looking at him with questioning eyes.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think. Next chapter, Katniss keeps watch while Imanol sleeps. She noticed another strange thing happens when the anthem comes on and comes across a rather violent group of people.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or storylines of The Hunger Games**

Katniss slowly climbed the tree after Imanol, trying to ignore the soft whimpers that he was emitting. It made her feel like a terrible person for distracting him from running during the bloodbath. If he'd been moving then the District 2 girl would not have had a chance to bury a knife in his leg. Then again, Katniss would not have gained the closest thing to a friend that she would probably have during the entire duration of the games, or at least until she died. When he slipped and slid down the trunk a little, she helped him find his footing. Finally they found two strong branches to sit on.

"Why are we in a tree?" Imanol asked after he caught his breath.

"Because the Careers won't be looking up if they come across us. They aren't that smart." She muttered, tossing him the sleeping bag and the rope. "Tie yourself up in the sleeping bag around the trunk." She said to him.

"Don't you need it?" he asked.

Katniss shook her head.

"I'm going to watch." She said.

"Should I stay awake to watch too?" he asked.

"No, I've got it under control." Katniss said with a nod.

She watched as he shuffled around, trying to get in the sleeping bag and then working on tying himself to the branch. When he finally settled and closed his eyes, Katniss pulled out the two knives and studied them. They were heavy but still a good size and weight for throwing. After about ten minutes, Katniss sat straight up when she heard a branch snap. Her eyes darted around nervously.

The same girl from earlier, the one that Katniss let go, walked right under their tree. She looked around with a confused look and Katniss knew that she'd been following them. Now, because they were in a tree, she had no idea where they were. She remained perfectly still, not wanting to alert the girl to her position. She wondered, if it came down to it, could she really kill this girl? When she caught sight of Imanol's peaceful slumbering form, she knew that she had to protect him. He was younger and more innocent. If this girl tried to attack him, Katniss would do what it took as much as she hated the thought of ending this girl's life.

Instead of looking up, the girl knelt down and started digging a hole. Katniss knew almost immediately what she was going to do and wanted very badly to stop her but that would let her know that they were there. When branches and leaves were piled into her hole, the girl pulled a box of matches out from her own orange pack. She smiled as she struck the match and lit the fire. The wind had died down so it didn't take long for the fire to build up. As it crackled and burned, the girl walked to the water and crouched over it, dipping her own container into and drinking it heavily.

Katniss shook her head. This girl had no idea how to survive in the wilderness. When movement just below her caught her eye, she knew that she had to make Imanol be quiet. He looked up at her with bleary eyes and she lifted a finger to her lips. His eyes widened at the sight of the two knives clenched in her hands. He slowly and quietly sat up, looking down at the girl warming herself by the fire. Katniss heard another branch snap and knew that they had found her. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and pretend like nothing was happening but she couldn't tear herself away from the girl's face.

When the person stepped out, the girl screamed in panic and stood to run. It was too late, the knife struck her back and she fell forward. Katniss bit her lip and shook her head. It was the District 2 girl, but she wasn't alone. A few other people stepped into the clearing. The District 2 boy, the District 1 boy and girl, the District 3 boy and, surprisingly enough, Peeta. Katniss almost breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that he was alive but was confused at why he would be with the careers.

"Is she dead?" the District 1 boy asked.

"I would be surprised if she isn't." the District 2 girl snorted.

"Then why hasn't the cannon gone off?" Peeta asked nervously.

"I don't know, bread boy." The District 2 girl snapped.

"Make sure she's dead, Clove." The District 2 boy said harshly, glaring at her.

"Why don't you do it, Cato?" she demanded.

"Because I'm not the one who failed to kill her in the first place." He growled.

Katniss fought to calm her shaking hands. She really hoped that this group would take each other out before they had a chance to go up against her. They seemed menacing enough to make her death slow and painful and she really didn't want that. The girl, Clove, grumbled as she made her way to the girl. She ripped the dagger out of her back and lifted her head. Katniss knew what was about to happen but she still couldn't look away. Clove slit the girl's throat easily before dropping her head back on the ground and walking to the brook to wash her bloodstained hands and knife off.

"She's got to be dead now." She shrugged.

"Still no cannon." The District 1 boy remarked.

"We know, Marvel." The District 1 girl said, rolling her eyes.

Suddenly a horn sounded that was supposed to signal the moment before the anthem began. Katniss panicked. They would be looking up any moment now to see the names of the dead tributes projected into the sky. There was no way that they wouldn't see her and Imanol. The anthem hadn't begun yet so she could hear them talking still.

"Aren't we going to watch?" Peeta asked.

"Why? To see the faces of the people we killed viciously?" Cato asked with a glare.

"S-sure?" Peeta stuttered.

Cato suddenly grinned maliciously.

"Fine." He shrugged.

Katniss suddenly bent down and ripped Imanol out of the sleeping bag easily, not knowing where her sudden strength came from. It must have been her survival instict. She helped him up to her branch and then they started climbing.

"Hey!" a voice shouted.

Katniss cursed aloud. They spotted them.

"Is that her?" she heard someone ask.

"Well?" Cato demanded of someone.

"I can't tell, it's dark." Peeta said, sounding nervous.

"Girl on Fire! Is that you?" a female voice taunted eagerly.

Katniss froze and looked down, seeing their moonlit faces staring up at her. Before they could say another word, the horn blew again. This time it sounded different. It crackled and botched and a voice was shouting along with it. Katniss couldn't make out the words. Katniss looked up at the sky to see the symbol of Panem flickering, which it never did before when she'd been forced to watch the Hunger Games. Something was wrong.

"Katniss… what's wrong with it?" Imanol whispered.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

Finally the horn stopped but the voice kept shouting nonsense words. Then the anthem began blaring louder than it should have, making Katniss cry out and try to cover her ears. She was unsuccessful because she was gripping onto the tree. She looked down to see everyone bent down and covering their ears.

"Imanol! Climb!" she cried, hoping he would hear her above the excruciatingly loud music.

Apparently he did because he began to climb higher with her. When the anthem ended, she sighed with relief as she sat on the highest branch that she could get to. Imanol sat on one across from her. Katniss felt her ears to find that they were dripping blood after the loud screeching of the anthem.

"Tri…" a static-like voice was cut off.

"…utes. Tri… It… You… Dead… Games…" the voice broke up to where they couldn't understand what it was trying to say.

Then the face of Seneca Crane appeared on a blurry and weak projection. He stared at the camera with an alarmed face. Blood dripped down his forehead as he looked forward with terrified eyes. Katniss almost felt that he was looking right at her.

"It's… ver… It's over!" He shouted before the projection cut out and it was silent.

Not even the birds and the animals were making noise. Everything was still. Katniss lowered her eyes to look at Imanol, who's already pale face had no color and his wide eyes looked more scared than she'd ever seen anyone look. She knew one thing and one thing only. Whatever was happening was very, very bad.

**Author's Note: Tell me what you think please. I really like reviews for people to tell me how my story is, how my writing is, and how they feel about everything. Please please please and I'll try to update as fast as I can with a longer chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or storylines of The Hunger Games**

Katniss didn't dare to move. The Careers and Peeta were all motionless below them, staring up at the spot where Seneca Crane's projection was.

"What did he mean… it's over?" Imanol whispered.

"I don't know." Katniss mumbled, snapping out of it and looking around for an escape.

They could reach another tree easily from where they were. Katniss stood up slowly on her branch and reached for the other tree trunk, holding her other hand out to Imanol. He grabbed it and she looked at him.

"When I leap to this tree, you be ready to leap to my branch. Then I'll help you onto the other tree." She said softly.

He nodded with wide eyes, betraying the fact that the thought this plan was crazy. Katniss nodded too, acknowledging that it probably was crazy. Just before she leapt, a voice startled her.

"Don't you even think it, Fire Girl." the same female voice that taunted her before rang out.

She looked down to see the girl from District 1 pointing an arrow up at her with the bow that she wanted so badly. Katniss studied her for a moment, looking at her posture. It took about two seconds for her to realize that the girl would never hit her even if she tried. She would be lucky if it went more than two feet into the air. Katniss shook her head and prepared to do it anyways.

Suddenly a knife came sailing by and lodged in the tree right next to her. She stopped reached and grabbed the knife, tired of them being thrown at her. Without looking, Katniss whirled around and threw the knife in the same direction that it came. A shout of pain made her grin as the District 2 girl clutched her bleeding cheek where the knife grazed.

Katniss didn't stop to gloat, instead leaping to the other tree immediately, pulling Imanol with her. Then she helped him to the tree and they began climbing towards another tree. After hopping three trees, they were well hidden in the leaves and branches but Katniss knew that they would probably eventually spot them if they looked closely enough.

"What are we going to do? And what happened with the projection and Mr. Crane?" Imanol whispered.

Katniss didn't have an answer for him. She pulled the two knives out of her belt and knelt down on the branch, waiting for anyone to climb up towards her. Suddenly a hand grasped her ankle and she screamed as she was yanked off of the branch. She landed painfully on the thick branch below her, knocking the wind out of her. When she looked up, she saw the Career boy from District 1. When he reached for her with a malicious smirk, she swung out with the knife, slicing his wrist open.

Blood splattered onto her face as he howled in pain and fury. She quickly flipped over the branch and landed on a lower one before leaping to another and climbing back up the tree quickly, both knives still clutched in her hands. The hand caught her ankle again but this time she was ready, swinging around the trunk and kicking out with her other leg. He shouted as he fell back through the branches. Katniss watched with wide eyes as he flipped over the branches to the ground.

He landed on his back but almost immediately sprung up, glaring up at her with a murderous look. He walked up the tree to follow her again.

"Marvel, stop being a fucking idiot. You aren't going to catch her in a tree. She's too good up there. Anyways, I don't want you killing anyone else until I say so." The District 2 boy, Cato, snarled as he came into view beside Marvel, clapping him on the back.

Katniss stared down at the two large boys as they stared up at her. One of them looked as though he would run a knife through her heart if she were within reach. The other, she couldn't really tell what he was thinking. Part of him looked as though he wanted to chase her up the tree and try to attack her. The other part looked almost impressed and that shocked her. She shook her head and braced herself against the tree, wiping Marvel's blood off of her face.

"Why don't you come down, Fire Girl?" Cato asked.

Katniss snorted, shaking her head in disbelief that he really thought that would work.

"Come on. We all promise not to kill you and your little friend until we figure out what the hell is going on." Cato said, gesturing up to the sky.

Katniss glared at him.

"Katniss." Imanol murmured.

She looked at him.

"We don't have any food. They could camp out underneath here for days and we'll starve to death." He urged.

"Imanol, if we go down there, he'll kill us." Katniss hissed, gesturing to Cato.

She remembered seeing him cutting down his opponents in the bloodbath. He was truly fearsome and unmerciful. That terrified her more than anything else that the Capitol could throw at her.

"We promise." Another voice threw in, the girl from District 2, Clove.

She was standing beside Cato now. Katniss stared at them hesitantly. Imanol was right. They would starve to death if they were trapped in the tree.

"I don't trust you." She called down.

They all stared at her, their faces not wavering. Cato looked at Imanol.

"How about you?" he asked.

Imanol gulped and looked at Katniss with a regretful expression.

"Don't." she whispered, shaking her head.

"I want to live." He whimpered.

"I can take care of you. I've kept you alive until now and I can keep doing it." she said in a hushed tone.

Katniss didn't know why she was so desperate for him to stay. Maybe it was because he was the only nonviolent human contact she expected to have throughout the entire time in the arena.

"I believe them." Imanol said, looking like the terrified fourteen-year-old boy he was before he began to slide down the tree.

Once he landed on the forest floor, Cato clapped him on the back and led him away.

"See you later, Girl on Fire." Clove said with a glint in her eye before she walked behind them.

Katniss watched as they walked off, feeling utterly alone. A few moments later, she heard a loud scream followed by a thump and laughing. She knew exactly who it was and without thinking about it, she clambered down the tree and ran in the direction that they'd gone. When she broke through the trees into another clearing, she saw Clove wiping a bloodstained knife off on the already dirty shirt of Imanol. His eyes were lifeless and he was hunched over. Blood from his chest was spilling out on the forest floor.

"No." she whispered, shaking her head.

Her first ally was dead because she couldn't protect him. The group turned to look at her.

"Will you join us now?" Cato asked, looking smug.

**Author's Note: Sorry that was short. I promise to make the next chapter longer. Review please! Pretty please and I'll give you a long Cato/Katniss scene next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss felt her hands trembling out of anger.

"You promised you wouldn't kill him." she growled, not caring that she was going up against the Careers.

"We only did that so you would come. We don't need that wimp." Clove scoffed.

Katniss glared at the girl.

"He is… was… a human being! He's not just a dispensable toy for you to play with!" she exclaimed.

Clove glared at her.

"I don't think you realize that I can end your life in an instant, Fire Girl." Clove snapped.

Katniss hesitated, suddenly realizing how dangerous of a position she put herself in. She saw Peeta's wide eyes and suddenly knew that she should run. When her eyes met the boy's eyes from District 2, she saw interest. Not in her, that would be ridiculous. She saw that he was interested in what would happen next. What she would do next. She turned and started pounding her feet against the ground, running for the shelter of the trees. She heard someone pursuing her and she tried to run faster as a spear whizzed past her and dug into a tree trunk.

Katniss ran to the tree and jumped onto the spear for a moment with one foot, using it as a way to jump up to a branch and scale the tree as quickly as she could. A hand caught her foot before she could get very high. She screamed as they dragged her back down, her hands scraping painfully against the bark. She didn't have time to register which career caught her when she was whirled around and slammed against the tree. She looked up and saw cold grey-blue eyes staring down at her.

"Let me go!" she shouted, struggling against him.

It was useless. Cato had at least 100 pounds on her and he was pure muscle. She wasn't going anywhere with his hands forming an iron grip around her upper arms.

"You aren't going anywhere, Twelve." He growled, slamming her against the tree again.

Katniss glared up at him.

"Fuck you." She snapped, surprised at herself.

It took a lot for her to use such language but at that moment she was furious.

"As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I'll have to decline. It wouldn't serve my purpose of killing you." He whispered, one of his strong hands slowly wrapping around her neck.

Katniss's eyes widened and she squirmed in his grip.

"But I won't as long as you come with us." He offered, raising his eyebrow.

"Why do you want me to come with you so damn badly?" she demanded.

"First of all, you're smart. Second of all, you got an eleven in your evaluation and I'm curious as to how that happened. Thirdly, I don't think you want to get killed. If you come with us, you won't be." He shrugged.

"Until you or one of your buddies decide I'm not worth it anymore. And how do you know that I am smart? For all you know I'm the stupidest girl on earth." Katniss snapped, fixing him with a quizzical expression.

"Well, you got an eleven. Then you were smart enough to stay away from us and refuse our offer to come with us at first. You were also smart enough to go along with Lover Boy's plan to get sponsors." Katniss flushed with anger as she thought of Peeta's confession on live television.

"How do you know I'm not in love with him too?" she asked defiantly.

Cato let out a bark of laughter.

"Anyone who actually looked at you instead of Lover Boy when he confessed his undying love for you would see that you were pissed off and taken by surprise. You were nowhere near in love with him then and you aren't anymore in love with him now." He said tauntingly.

Katniss glanced around, wondering if the Capitol could still hear their conversation. If they could, she would lose any sponsors who believed in the idea of the star-crossed lovers.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." She said icily.

"Don't I?" Cato asked.

Katniss shook her head stubbornly. It was difficult because his hand was still around her neck.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked.

"Do I have a choice?" she shot back.

Cato chuckled and let go of everything but her right arm.

"Not much of one." He informed her.

Katniss glanced around, looking for the rest of the group.

"I sent them back to camp. They trust that I can get you back myself." Cato said, sounding awfully impressed with himself.

"Aren't you special?" Katniss said with a spiteful grin before she yanked her arm out of his grip.

While she was glad that she was free of his touch, her shoulder protested against the sudden jarring motion and she rubbed it unconsciously.

"I think you need to get used to the fact that I'm too strong for you, Fire Girl." Cato mocked her.

"Bastard." She muttered.

"This way." he said, pretending he hadn't heard her as he led her through the trees.

Katniss followed behind him grudgingly, casting her eyes about for any escape as she tried to formulate a plan to get away from the Career group. When it suddenly dawned on her what she had to do, she hid her smile carefully as it all fell into place in her mind.

"What do you think is going on with the projections?" Cato asked.

She bit her lip. She hadn't thought about it in the chaos of Imanol's death. Imanol. She still felt terribly about that. It didn't help that they passed his body moments later. She stopped and knelt beside it. Cato turned back to look at her.

"Let's keep going. I want to be at camp by dawn." He said unsympathetically.

"Go to hell." Katniss shot back as she uncurled his body and laid it out peacefully.

Then she closed his eyes gingerly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry." She murmured.

Then she looked up and stared at the moon in the sky. She lifted three fingers to her mouth and kissed them before raising them up in a salute to District 9. She didn't know if they could see it but that didn't matter. She felt like she had to do something because she didn't work hard enough to protect Imanol. She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before standing up and looking at Cato.

His face was emotionless but there was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite figure out.

"I didn't tell Clover to kill him." he said, looking at her.

"So?" she demanded.

"I just… it wasn't part of my plan." Cato said.

"Well your plan seems to kill a lot of innocent people so either way, Imanol probably would have died anyway." She snapped before stomping in the direction of the Cornucopia where she knew they set up camp.

She heard him following her but didn't look back. After about fifteen minutes of silence, Katniss had to ask him a question.

"What was your plan?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he questioned.

She stopped and turned around, looking him square in the face.

"Why did you want Imanol to come with you if it's really me you wanted? He obviously wasn't useful to you." Katniss stated.

Cato stared at her.

"Why does it matter?" he asked curiously.

"Because it does!" she exclaimed. "Because he was a fourteen-year-old kid who was scared! He was terrified of you and your goons and of these ridiculous games! I was supposed to protect him and anyone else I could from you and your violent bunch!"

He put his hands up in surrender at her angry rant.

"I thought that you would follow. At a safe distance but you would still want to make sure that he was all right with us. Then eventually you would see that we weren't hurting him and you would want to join us to make it stay that way." he explained.

Katniss glared at him as she processed this information. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. This violent, perverted, beast was perfectly correct about her. She would have done that. She wasn't sure that she would ever join them but she would watch them. Cato wasn't planning on killing Imanol. Imanol could still be alive if it weren't for Clove. Instead of being subdued and accepting that explanation, Katniss saw red.

She stomped up to Cato and shoved him as hard as she could, surprised when he stumbled back a step.

"You're their leader! You could have stopped Clove! Imanol could still be alive if you'd told her not to! She would have listened to you!" she shouted, shoving him all the way up until he ended up against a tree with her wrists enveloped by his hands.

Katniss stopped and looked up at him fearfully. He could snap her wrists if he wanted to.

"Are you done?" he asked calmly, not acting angry or violent at all.

She didn't say anything, electing to stay quiet as she stared up at him.

"Let go of me." she whispered, her eyes dropping to the ground.

"As long as you promise to stop shoving me." he replied.

Katniss didn't look at him but she nodded and backed away once he let her go.

"I didn't mean for him to die." Cato said again before he stomped off in the direction of the Cornucopia.

That was as close to an apology as she was going to get. But she didn't really know that she wanted an apology. As much as she wanted to blame Cato for this, it was Clove who drove the knife through Imanol's heart. And Katniss fully intended to make her pay for it.

* * *

Katniss was clenching and unclenching her fists as they broke the trees and entered the clearing with the Cornucopia and the lake. She walked past Cato quickly and broke into a run as she ran to the lake. She immediately bent down and dipped her hands into the lake, not listening to the voice in her head that told her not to drink. It was only when two rough hands stopped her that she realized that the voice wasn't in her head.

She turned to see Peeta's blonde hair and blue eyes looking back at her. He handed her a bottle of water and she began to drink greedily from it, not caring that it wasn't hers.

"Take it easy, you'll throw up and you know it." Peeta said, taking it away from her.

She sat back, feeling her body draining of even more energy. It had almost been twenty-four full hours since she slept.

"Did he hurt you?" Peeta murmured, checking her body for signs of injury.

"I'm fine." Katniss waved him off.

"No you're not." He said, sounding annoyed as he held her hands with her palms facing up.

She looked down to see deep scrapes all the way from the tips of her fingers to the heel of her palm.

"I was climbing a tree and Cato dragged me down it." she mumbled, finally realizing that her palms had been burning with pain for the entire hike to the Cornucopia.

Peeta sighed and grabbed the bottle of water. He held it over her hands and let the cool water wash over her wounds. Katniss hissed as the pain flared up and bit her lip.

"Come on. We have medicine that will help those heal." Peeta said, standing up and helping her to her feet.

"I just want to sleep." She whispered as he pulled her along.

They reached the mouth of the golden structure and he began to shift through a pile as Katniss swayed on the spot.

"What do you think you're doing?" an angry voice spat.

"Katniss needs medicine for her hands." Peeta said, not looking up.

"Let the bitch suffer." The girl scoffed.

Peeta rolled his eyes but kept looking through the pile. Katniss remained still and quiet throughout the conversation but she finally reacted when a knife hit the ground inches from Peeta's foot.

"I said stop." The girl growled.

Katniss whirled around, yanking a knife out of her belt as it finally occurred to her who it was. Despite the fact that she was exhausted and felt as though she would collapse, she let out a scream of pain and launched at Clove. The Career girl yelled in surprise as they slammed to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

Katniss gained the upper hand for a moment and threw the knife to the side. Then she began to connect her fists with whatever parts of Clove's body that she could find. As tough and strong as Clove was, Katniss had the advantage in height. She slammed her knee into Clove's stomach, knocking the wind out of her as she continued to pummel her.

Then Clove finally got the strength advantage and shoved Katniss off before taking her in a headlock. Katniss panicked for a few moments before she felt around for Clove's belt. She ripped out a knife and sliced it through the air. Clove howled in pain and let go of Katniss to tend to her now bleeding and sliced open calf. Katniss gasped heavily as she tried to draw in extra air.

Katniss heard someone shout her name but she didn't register who it was before she launched at Clove again. She put her leg on the other girl's stomach to hold her in place then she held the knife against her throat. Clove looked at her with shock before Katniss felt her hauled into the air.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fighting against her captor.

She kicked her legs and struggled to make them let her go. When her struggling didn't faze him, she knew exactly who grabbed her.

"I am going to kill her!" she screamed, trying to launch forward out of his arms to where she saw Clove being held back by Marvel.

"No you're not." Cato's voice growled in her ear.

"Now be still!" he demanded as his hands tightened around her arms.

Katniss cried out in pain and became still instantly, her body sagging in his arms. He loosened his grip and she collapsed to the ground, exhaustion overtaking her again. She felt someone's gentle hands on her.

"You didn't have to be so rough with her." his voice chided.

"Shut it Lover Boy." Cato snapped before stomping past them to inquire about Clove.

Katniss laid her cheek against the grass and curled her legs to her chest, the bloody knife still clutched in her hand.

"Katniss, you have to get up." Peeta said softly.

"No. I'm tired and I'm going to sleep." She muttered.

"I think they want us to go hunting soon." He argued.

As Katniss slipped into the darkness, she knew that their version of hunting did not include animals and she was glad that she wouldn't be awake for it.

* * *

When a lot of ice-cold water hit her face and upper body, Katniss gasped in surprise and pain. She sat up straight and looked around wildly as she wiped her eyes clear of the freezing water.

"What the hell?" she spat.

"You don't get to sleep, Fire Girl." Cato mocked.

She glared up at him as she stood. It took her a moment to realize that the knife with Clove's blood on it was still gripped in her hand. She was dismayed when she realized that it was still a little wet. It hadn't been long since she fell asleep. The sun was just barely rising over the trees.

"Fuck off." She growled.

"Not right now, Fire Girl!" Cato gasped, sounding traumatized as he grinned and walked away.

She looked to see Peeta staring at her with apologetic eyes from ten feet away. He walked to her and handed her a small white bottle.

"This should heal your hands up." He said.

Katniss stared at his back as he walked away, towards the group getting ready to delve into the forest. She stared at the medicine suspiciously. Somewhere inside of her she knew that Peeta wouldn't hurt her. But she still was suspicious of everyone.

"It's not harmful." A voice came out of nowhere, making Katniss jump a little.

She blamed her ignorance on her exhaustion. When she turned, she saw the blonde girl from District 1, the one with the bow and arrow slung over her back.

"And I'm supposed to trust you?" Katniss demanded harshly.

"You don't have to." The girl shrugged.

She walked over to Katniss before taking the bottle and emptying the thick liquid onto her own blistered hands before she handed it back. Then she rubbed it into her hands and nodded.

"Now you can use it." she shrugged before walking past her.

"If you wrap a piece of cloth around your hands when you use the bow, it helps." Katniss offered as she rubbed the medicine into her hands.

The girl turned and looked at her questioningly. She recognized the wounds as blisters from the bow.

"You know how to use it?" the girl asked.

Katniss shook her head.

"My dad used to use one." She lied, not wanting this girl to see her even more as competition and try to kill her.

"Used to?" the girl asked.

Katniss' blood ran cold as she thought about her father.

"Yeah, used to." She said as she walked past the girl and towards the group.

Cato turned and studied her. She realized what he did. She had no weapons other than a knife. At the unspoken question in his eyes, she spoke.

"I'm shit at throwing knives." She said plainly.

"Then you need a different weapon." He responded.

His eyes scanned the group and the grounds. His eyes fell on the girl from District 1.

"Give Katniss your bow, we'll see if she's any better." He ordered.

"No!" Peeta said.

They all looked at him, Katniss with an angry glare and Cato with a raised eyebrow.

"Katniss is terrible with a bow. Trust me when I say that Glimmer is the better choice. I don't even think that Katniss knows how to hold it, do you?" everyone looked at Katniss now.

"I… no. No I don't. Is there anything else?" she asked.

Cato growled and ripped a knife out of Clove's belt and handed it to her.

"You'll have to do with these then." He grunted before he walked back to the lead. Clove gave her a pointed glare.

Katniss glared at Peeta's back as they tromped through the forest. He just took away her only chance to get the bow and arrows.

"What the hell?" she hissed when he slowed down enough to fall into step with her.

"You can't get the bow. They'll expect you to use it and then they'll take it away when they see how good you are with it. You can't let them see that. You have to take the bow whenever you escape." He whispered.

Katniss stared at him. He was most likely right.

"What are you two lovers whispering about?" Clove demanded.

Everyone looked back at them but kept walking.

"We're just wondering what was going on with the anthem last night." Katniss said quickly.

"Yeah, what the hell was that?" Marvel wondered.

That caused the group to launch into a conversation about it and they ignored Katniss and Peeta.

"When are you escaping?" she murmured.

"I'm not." He shrugged.

Katniss stared at him with an unbelieving look.

"What? I wasn't forced to be in the group I chose it. I asked for it." Peeta said.

"You're ok with being in a group that is killing children?" she demanded.

He sighed and shook his head.

"You see everything in black and white. There is no gray area for you. I'm sticking with the group that is going to keep me alive for the longest. Instead of being hunted, I'm hunting. These kids are going to die with or without me sticking with the group. I'm just trying to prolong my life as long as I can. If I can get home to my family, then I'll do whatever it takes." Peeta said.

Katniss hated to admit it, but he wasn't talking crazy. The games are the games. People change in them and they do whatever it takes to live. She'd seen that exact thing countless times when she watched them in years past. Perfectly innocent and nice people had killed brutally because they wanted to go home.

"It's still murder and you're still helping it happen." Katniss said with a shake of her head.

"So you're telling me that if you got the chance you wouldn't kill Clove?" Peeta asked.

"That's different, she killed Imanol." Katniss shot back.

"So? It's no different. Clove has a family. Clove has a home. She has people that care about her and you tried to kill her. That doesn't make you any better than her." he said.

Katniss bit her lip. He was right. Of course he was right. Katniss was just as bad as the rest of them if she really wanted to kill Clove.

"Shut up Bread Boy." She felt the scathing words slip from her mouth and recognized the look of hurt on his face.

She didn't know why she said it but she felt full of regret as he sped up angrily. Katniss knew that she sounded exactly like Cato or Clove when she said that. She knew that it was already too late to tell him that she was sorry. In her stupid mind, she would rather drive him off than admit that he was right.

* * *

Katniss sighed with relief as she lay on the ground. They hadn't caught up with any other tributes that day so no killing happened. Neither had anything else. There was no cannons, no announcements, nothing. They had stopped in a good sized clearing to rest for the night before setting out again in the morning. The sun was just starting to set so Katniss wanted to stay awake to see if the anthem went off this time. Unfortunately, as soon as her body hit the ground she was fighting a losing battle to stay awake so she easily fell asleep.

When she woke up, the moon was high above her head and everyone around her was sleeping. That was weird, usually with the Careers there was at least one person keeping watch. When she sat up and looked around, she noticed Marvel asleep against a tree. He was supposed to be watching. Katniss knew that if Cato woke up, Marvel would be in trouble for not watching.

She looked around beside her and saw that Peeta was laying down a few feet away. He was fast asleep just like the rest. Then she spotted Glimmer a few feet away from Peeta. Instead of being slung over her back, the bow and arrow were laying at her feet just begging to be taken. Katniss was never someone to pass up an opportunity. Or so she tried to convince herself as she stood slowly and silently.

She saw Cato lying next to Clove sleeping as peacefully as the rest but his hand was gripping his sword tightly. Even in sleep he was on guard. Katniss softly stepped around Peeta, careful to try not to step on any twigs or leaves. It was hard as there were branches and leaves everywhere. When she reached Glimmer's side, she bent down slowly and reached out for the bow and quiver of arrows. Her body sang with relief as her hands closed around them.

She stood up and slowly lifted the strap of the quiver over her head before testing out the bow. Behind her, someone shifted and groaned. In an instant, the bow was pulled tight with an arrow in place as she whirled around. Marvel stirred and his eyes flickered open. When he caught sight of her, he stared at her warily. When she saw his mouth open, she stepped away from Glimmer and kept the arrow trained at his heart.

"I will kill you." She murmured, wondering if he could hear her.

"How will you do that and run at the same time?" Marvel asked, grinning at her.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she stared at him, waiting to call his bluff.

"Oh Cato." She was off before the 'o' escaped his loud voice.

Katniss held the bow in one hand in the arrow in the other as she took off through the forest, twisting her way around trees. She didn't hear anyone pursuing her but she was being awfully noisy on her own so she didn't assume that Cato wasn't chasing her.

It wasn't until she heard him angrily growl "twelve" behind her that she knew he was after her. As he got closer and closer, his strides longer than hers, she put the arrow into the bow and pulled the string tight. She dove into another clearing and whirled around, pointing the bow right at his neck as he ran up to her. She felt the cool metal of his sword resting against her own neck.

There they stood, facing each other with determined faces and two deadly weapons ready to kill the other. Katniss wasn't prepared to back down and she was pretty positive that her opponent wasn't quite ready to either.

**Author's Note: I tried to make this chapter longer. I just felt that was a nice place to stop. Let me know what you think or if I'm moving too fast. I always feel like I am but I'm biased. Review please! Please please please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

"Drop it." Cato demanded.

"No." Katniss shot back.

"Now." He growled.

"Still no." she said.

"I will kill you." He threatened.

"If you so much as nick me with that sword, I let this arrow shoot into your throat and you'll choke on your own blood." Katniss replied easily.

"Seems like we're at a bit of a standstill." Cato sighed.

"Mm-hm." she murmured.

"So what? We hold it as long as possible? Who do you think will get tired first?" he asked.

"You have a big heavy sword." She said.

He smirked at her. Katniss looked around to see if anyone followed Cato. No one was in sight.

"I thought you didn't even know how to use a bow and arrow." He said.

"I lied." Katniss said quickly.

"So I noticed. You do realize that since you ran away, our deal is over. I can kill you anytime I want." Cato said.

"Go ahead." Katniss shrugged casually.

His sharp eyes studied her and her weapon.

"That's a big risk." He shrugged.

"You're just a coward." She mocked.

He looked angry for a moment as they continued to stare each other down. The sound of a twig snapping broke both of them out of their stalemate. The little girl from District 11, Rue, was standing between the trees with wide eyes. As soon as they caught sight of her, she took off running, her little legs carrying her as quickly as they could.

Cato's eyes snapped back to her.

"Put your weapon down and I won't kill her." he offered.

"What?" Katniss demanded.

"Lower your bow and put your arrow back in your quiver and I won't run after than girl and snap her neck." Cato said.

Katniss let her eyes shift to the direction where Rue ran.

"You'll kill her if I don't?" she asked.

He nodded, a serious look on his face.

"She's only eleven." Katniss murmured, trying to appeal to the humanity that just had to be somewhere in him.

He shrugged carelessly.

Katniss bit her lip and lowered her bow slowly, pulling the arrow away from it. Cato lowered his sword at the same speed.

"Do you promise that you won't kill her? Not ever?" Katniss asked.

Cato stared at her for a moment.

"I promise that I won't but I can't promise that no one will." He said carefully, gauging her reaction.

"I know." She murmured.

Cato walked to her slowly, picking her head up from where she was staring at the ground.

She felt her skin erupt in goosebumps at his touch. His hand remained on her chin, not gripping it, just lightly touching it. She blamed her reaction on the fact that she was so close to a cold blooded killer.

"We should get going." He said, staring deep into her eyes.

Katniss nodded, not trusting her voice to say anything. He pulled away abruptly and lifted his arm, resting the flat part of the blade of the sword on his shoulder.

She trudged beside him, looking around with her sharp eyes for any animals to kill. She would appreciate a nice warm meal when they arrived at the camp. Suddenly a loud horn sounded. It was as loud as the anthem had been. Katniss cried out and dropped her bow, covering her ears quickly. One glance showed her that Cato had dropped his sword and was mimicking her position.

Tears sprung into Katniss's eyes as her ears throbbed painfully. The horn ended as suddenly as it began.

"Warning. Danger. Warning. Danger." An automated voice echoed around them.

The two tributes looked at each other questioningly. Then they fell to the ground as it rumbled loudly and a loud noise shattered the air. The trees all shook and branches and leaves showered down around them. Katniss looked around with panicked eyes, not noticing a large branch falling towards her. Cato saw it and he automatically snatched her out of the way just in time, enveloping her in his large body.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. He saved her life. Then they both looked up and saw a large black cloud in the sky. The electrical field around the arena was flickering. Then another loud boom sounded, making Katniss and Cato stumble even closer to each other. Katniss's small hands gripped Cato's large biceps as best as they could, trying to keep her upright as the ground continued to shake.

"It's a bomb!" Cato shouted.

"What?" Katniss yelled back.

"The black smoke and the booms! They're dropping bombs on us!" he explained.

Katniss's eyes widened even further and she looked up at the sky. Neither of the bombs had made it past the electrical field.

"There!" she yelled and pointed as the ground finally became still.

Two hovercrafts were flying quickly through the air away from the arena.

"The electrical field saved us." Cato said with wonder.

They looked at each other with surprised and confused eyes. Then they realized that they were still gripping each other tightly and that their bodies were practically melded together. They jumped apart and both took their time brushing their clothes off and searching for their weapons.

"We need to get back." they said at the same time.

They heard footsteps running towards them and both drew their weapons, pointing at the source. Rue came into view, looking terrified.

"I don't want to be alone anymore." She whimpered, looking fearfully at their weapons.

Katniss immediately put her arrow back in the quiver and walked to her, automatically drawing her into a hug.

"You can come with us." She said.

Cato started to make a noise of protest before she fixed a cold glare on him.

"Can't she, Cato?" she demanded.

He snapped his mouth closed before looking down at the girl. She was clutching Katniss and tears ran down her small face.

"Of course." He said, nodding.

He was unable to say no to this. It was a little girl after all. And something about Katniss's glare made him say yes. It wasn't just a glare. Behind the hostility there was a pleading in her eyes. Then he remembered watching the Fire Girl's reaping. She volunteered for her sister, a young girl about the same size as the District 11 girl. He turned and began walking, trusting that they were following him.

* * *

When they broke through the trees into the field with the Cornucopia, Cato was instantly surrounded, everyone shouting about the bombs.

"Shut up!" he roared, annoyed with their prying voices.

They all looked at Katniss, surprised at the tag along currently hiding behind her.

"Did you bring her to us for an easy slaughter?" Marvel asked, confused at why the girl was there.

Katniss glared at him, slightly crouching with her hand poised to grab an arrow to protect the little girl.

"No." Cato growled, grabbing the boy's arm, forcing him to look up at him.

"From now on, no more killing." He said, looking at everyone one at a time.

Everyone looked at him with shock, even Katniss.

"Why?" Clove demanded.

"Did you not just see what happened? They tried to bomb us. To kill us! As far as I'm concerned, there are no more Hunger Games." Cato said with a shake of his head.

Katniss narrowed her eyes, suspicious of why he was doing this. Was he only doing it to earn her trust so that he could slaughter her and Rue while they slept, unaware of the danger.

"What the hell, Cato? You've been training for this all your life and now you're just stopping?" Clove demanded, furious.

"Yes! And if anyone uses their weapon on another tribute, I will kill them myself. Do you understand?" Cato demanded.

Everyone nodded quickly, obviously intimidated by his size. Everyone except for Clove.

"No, I don't agree. I think we should keep going…" an arrow landed an inch from Clove's foot and everyone looked at Katniss with shock.

"Aren't you paying attention?" Katniss demanded, drawing another arrow to point it at the stupid girl.

"No one is watching! Not if they're trying to blow us up! We're a liability now! Too dangerous to let out into society because they've made us killers! They were trying to get rid of us but their own protection ended up keeping us safe!" she yelled.

Everyone kept their eyes on her, listening closely and actually agreeing with her. Even Clove knew that she made sense.

"So what do we do now, Fire Girl?" Clove demanded, glaring at her.

Katniss's eyes darted to each person, taking in their interested faces. They actually wanted to listen to her. Peeta looked encouraging, nodding at her. When her eyes met Cato's, she couldn't figure out his emotions yet again. Without looking away from his eyes, she spoke.

"We try like hell to stay alive."

* * *

"How do we let the remaining tributes who aren't with us that it's ok to come out?" Peeta asked as they gathered in a circle, everyone still eyeing each other suspiciously.

No one was quite sure that the games were actually over so they were still wary, all of them keeping a hold on their weapons.

"We could hack into the intercom system." Glimmer said.

Everyone looked at her with surprise.

"What?" she asked, looking clueless.

"That might actually be a good idea." Marvel said with shock.

"Seriously? I'm not just another pretty face. Though I'm pretty damn gorgeous if I may say so myself." Glimmer shrugged.

Everyone rolled his or her eyes. That was the Glimmer that they were all used to.

"Where would it be?" Clove asked Glimmer

Everyone looked at the blonde questioningly. Then a loud screech went through the air and everyone covered his or her ears once again. Katniss heard Cato cussing at the sky about the loud noises. If she wasn't so tense and on guard, she would have laughed at his actions.

"Tributes!" a voice shouted as the screeching ended.

They recognized it as Seneca Crane.

"What?" They all shouted at the same time.

His face was projected onto the sky once again.

"Run! No more…" his voice cut out and the projection went away.

Then he came back with a panicked look on his face.

"Protect yourselves! Protect each other! Gather at the Cornucopia and save yourselves! They want you dead!" he yelled.

A boom sounded in the background and they saw a flash before the projection disappeared. They all kept staring at the sky.

"No shit they want us dead! They just launched a fucking nuclear attack!" Clove shouted at the sky.

They all looked at her with surprise at her outburst.

"What do we do now?" Rue murmured to Katniss, looking up at her.

"We wait." She said back.

"For what, Fire Girl?" Cato spat, staring at her.

"There are still other tributes out there. If they heed Crane's warning, they'll come here. We should wait for at least a day and see who shows up." She said loudly, staring back at him.

Cato casted his eyes around the circle.

"Does everyone agree?" he asked.

They all nodded hesitatingly, not wanting to anger Cato just in case he snapped and tried to kill them all.

He stared at Katniss for a moment and she looked right back at him fearlessly.

"We wait." He agreed, sounding resigned.

**Author's Note: Sorry this one wasn't that long. I'll make the next one at least twice as long if not more. I promise. Let me know what you think. Please please please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss should have known that asking someone as restless as the District 2 boy to simply wait was a bad idea. He hadn't sat down for three hours. Despite the fact that the sun was rising, everyone was asleep. Everyone except for her and Cato. She couldn't go to sleep with his constant pacing. Her annoyance finally overtook her and she clambered to her feet. He whirled around with his sword pointed at her.

"Will you calm down?" she hissed, glaring at him.

He lowered his sword and glowered at her in answer to her question. She groaned softly and stepped over Glimmer's body. She had been sandwiched between her and Rue before.

"What the hell is the matter with you? Why can't you just lie down with the rest of us?" she whispered as she walked up to him.

Her head was almost all the way tilted back by the time she got close enough to hear him whisper.

"All of the people who are my enemies are probably heading towards me right now. Most of them probably want to kill me." He shot back in a low voice.

Clove mumbled and turned over in her sleep as Katniss and Cato's heads shot around to look at her. Katniss grabbed Cato's wrist and tried to pull him away from the group. She was yanked back because he refused to budge.

"I thought we would have this conversation away from the sleeping people." She snapped.

He looked at the silent tributes and back at her before assenting and allowing her drag him to the lake.

"No one is going to kill you. We've called the games off and even Seneca Crane told us to stop trying to kill each other." She said, bending down and dipping her still wounded hands in the cool water.

"That doesn't mean they still won't try." Cato mumbled, kneeling and splashing water on his face.

"The only two people that anyone is worried about killing anyone are you and Clove." Katniss muttered.

"What does that mean?" Cato demanded, sounding a little bit offended.

"It means that you two are the Hunger Games. You both have loved the idea of it from day one. You relished in killing others. For most of the rest of us, it's just about survival. But you and Clove are bloodthirsty and that worries everyone. The only way any of us are going to hold a weapon against you is if you threaten us first." Katniss said simply, not fazed by his angry glare.

"You think I can't help but kill people?" he growled.

Katniss faced him and sighed.

"I think you were born and bred to kill people. It's basically programmed into you." She said softly, not wanting to anger him too much but she also wanted him to see why everyone was so on edge right now.

"I'm not brainwashed." He shot back.

Katniss shook her head and turned back to the water. She splashed her face once before she stood to walk away. Before she could go, a large hand closed around her small wrist. She flinched and looked down with fearful eyes. Would he kill her right here and now for bringing this up? Instead of fury in his eyes, she saw a fleeting emotion. Fear. Then his emotionless mask covered it up and he let her wrist go.

"Just go away." He growled before he turned away from her and sat on a large boulder.

Katniss bit her lip. She didn't trust Cato any further than she could throw him. But he was still a human being and she didn't have the right to judge him. If the Hunger Games hadn't been cancelled, how many tributes would she have killed to stay alive? To get back home to Prim? Didn't she plan on several different ways to kill Clove after she killed Imanol?

"If you want them to stop being afraid of you, give them a reason to trust you. You're a natural leader, Cato. It's up to you what kind of leader you want to be. Give them a good leader, be their protector instead of the thing they need protecting from. Then it will all fall into place." She said simply before she walked away.

* * *

"_Run!" A voice screamed._

_Katniss couldn't help but obey. She knew exactly whom the voice belonged to. But instead of running away from the person, she ran towards them._

"_Prim!" she screamed. _

_Then she whirled around as she heard a big boom. The ground shook loudly. Far off, she saw the electrical dome around the arena flickering. Why wasn't she in there any more? A second loud boom sounded and the ground shook even more. This time, the electrical wall gave way and a third bomb fell through. A huge mushroom cloud filled the sky, making the ground shake harder than ever. Katniss fell back and looked up to see Prim looming over her with a scary smirk on her face._

"_They're all dead, Katniss." She said._

_Katniss scrambled up and looked at her._

"_Why wasn't I in there?" she asked shakily._

"_You promised you would come home to me." Prim said simply._

_Katniss noticed a knife in her little sister's hand. It was dripping blood. She looked around to see a pile of bodies. Peeta, Cato, Glimmer, Clove, Rue. They were all lifeless. Then Katniss looked around to see that Prim was gone. When she felt a foreign object in her own right hand, she looked down to see that she was holding the dripping knife. Her clothes were covered in blood. It was everyone. The ground was drenched in it. All of the sudden it was turned into a river of blood and she was washed away, screaming as the blood got everywhere. In her hair, her mouth, her nose, her eyes. She choked on it as she continued to cry for help._

_She saw glimpses of people standing on the shore of the river. They all had knives through their hearts and were glaring at her unforgivingly. Prim, Gale, Haymitch, her mother, Effie, Peeta, her father, Glimmer, Rue… Cato._

"_Help!" she screamed at him._

_He shook his head slowly and they all turned to walk away._

Katniss sat up gasping. She heard yelling and shouting and thought it was her at first. Then she looked around and saw everyone sitting up looking at one spot with confused and fearful faces. It wasn't her shouting. Katniss stood up slowly on shaky legs. It was Peeta. He was thrashing about and yelling in his sleep. Katniss noticed everyone looking at her for help. He was her District partner. She would have to deal with him. She sighed and walked to him, bending over and shaking him softly.

"Peeta, it's ok." She murmured, trying to sound soothing.

He didn't stop, his yells became louder. She shook him harder

"Peeta!" she yelled.

This jerked him out of his viscous thrashing. Katniss felt a sharp pain and her vision went black as she flew backwards. Her head slammed onto the ground as she cried out in pain. She heard gasps and soft hands were helping her sit up. Her hand went to her throbbing cheek and eye. She looked up to see Peeta looking around with a confused face.

"What the hell?" she heard a voice shout.

It sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place it. She was so dazed and disoriented.

"What happened?" she heard Peeta murmur.

He sounded so far away. Katniss blinked and tried to get her bearings. Her head was throbbing painfully and her eye felt like someone stabbed a bunch of needles into it.

"You punched the shit out of her!" it was Marvel.

Katniss was confused about why he was yelling. Why did he care? Shouldn't he have been taking a sadistic pleasure in the fact that she was hurt? Faces swam in and out of her vision. Glimmer and Rue. Actually, it was double Glimmer and double Rue. Peeta really did a number on her. They were saying her name, she thought they were.

"Fire Girl?" Now that voice she knew.

She looked around for him, her head whipping about. She cried out as it made it throb even worse. She hunched her shoulders and put her hands on her head, trying to make the pain go away. Two large hands closed around her wrists and she looked up. His face swam into view and she studied it. Did he look concerned or was that just her imagination?

"Cato?" she murmured.

She heard several sighs of relief around her.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"My head hurts." She mumbled before she used him as leverage to try to stand up.

"You shouldn't do that." Katniss waved him off before stumbling over to where Marvel was glaring at Peeta.

She put her hand on the District 1 boy's shoulder to steady herself.

"Don't hurt him." she said, pointing at Marvel. "He didn't mean to hit me. He was having a nightmare. I should have known better than to get so close to him when he was thrashing around like that."

Katniss finally felt her wits coming back. She was able to stand on her own two feet by herself and her vision became less blurry. She blinked her eyes a few times before catching sight of Peeta's guilty face. He reached out towards her and she flinched away, stumbling back into two strong arms. Instead of flinching away from Cato, as she probably should have, she sought protection in his arms. Then she realized how ridiculous it was that she was automatically afraid of Peeta.

He didn't hurt her on purpose. But still, the image of his fist flying at her face wasn't easy to get rid of even if he didn't mean to do it. Katniss, not breaking free from Cato's arms, began touching her face. She hissed in pain as she hit the tenderest spot. Her eye would be completely bruised within an hour. She turned towards Cato.

"Did it hurt my actual eyeball?" she asked, opening it as wide as she could without hurting herself more.

"No I don't see anything. It's just the bone around it. I guess it could be broken." He said, his fingers reaching up to touch it.

Katniss bit her lip as he prodded at it softly.

"It doesn't hurt too bad. It's just throbbing. Do we have any pain medicine?" she asked.

Glimmer appeared by her side with two little white pills and a bottle of water. Katniss smiled thankfully at her before she stepped away from Cato and took the medicine. When she looked up, she saw Cato glaring at Peeta.

"Hey." Without thinking, Katniss placed her hand on Cato's large bicep.

He looked down at her, tearing his eyes away from his death glare to her District partner.

"He didn't mean to." She assured him.

He grunted softly and then pulled away from her, steadying her.

Katniss slowly made her way over to her sleeping back, picking up her bow and arrow.

"What are you doing?" Rue asked.

"If we're stuck here for another day, I don't want to eat berries and nuts. I'm going hunting." Katniss decided.

"But you just got hurt." Rue argued.

Katniss saw Peeta flinch out of her corner of her eye but she kept her attention focused forward.

"We need good food, Rue. I'll only be an hour or two." She said assuringly.

"Someone should go with you." She said with an air of finality.

"I will." Peeta volunteered.

Everyone glared at him and their expressions all said the same thing. There was no way in hell he was getting anywhere near Katniss. Especially not alone. She was surprised that even Clove was giving Peeta the evil eye.

"I'll go with you!" Glimmer exclaimed in a bright voice.

Katniss nodded and felt her head gingerly. There was a good-sized bump on the back from where she hit it on the ground. But the pain medicine was already kicking in and making the throbbing hurt less and less.

"Let's go!" the blonde girl dragged Katniss towards the forest.

"So how do we do this?" Glimmer asked after a few minutes of walking.

Katniss stopped and looked at her with a strange expression.

"You've never been hunting?" she asked.

"No it's illegal. And why would I possibly do that in District 1?" Glimmer asked.

"Then why did you volunteer to come out here?" Katniss asked, confused.

"The same reason everyone else wanted to volunteer to come out here with you. You're the girl on fire. Everyone wants to get to know you." Glimmer shrugged.

"But I'm beating them all to it and we're going to be friends." she decided.

Katniss stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"Why would you want to be friends with me?" she asked, still dumbstruck.

Glimmer rolled her eyes.

"You're amazing and everyone can see that. They all want a piece of you, Katniss Everdeen. Volunteer tribute of District 12 and the Girl on Fire!" she said, imitating Caesar Flickerman perfectly.

Katniss laughed and Glimmer raised her eyebrows.

"So you can laugh? I owe Marvel money." She said bitterly.

Katniss scowled at that and then perked up when she heard rustling. She quickly scampered up the nearest tree and looked around. As luck would have it, two stags were standing in a clearing not far from them. Katniss immediately strung and arrow and closed one of her eyes, concentrating on the deer. Once the first arrow hit, the other deer panicked and began to run. It was down before it even reached the edge of the clearing.

Katniss grinned. She hadn't lost her touch. For good measure, she shot the rabbit that came out to investigate the deer. Then she hopped down from the tree and grinned at Glimmer.

"We have food." She said proudly.

"Seriously?" Glimmer asked, sounding impressed.

Katniss nodded and took off through the trees to her kills. When they broke through the edge of the clearing, they froze. The big tribute from District 11 was standing in the middle of the clearing looking around at the deer with a confused look. His head whipped around to look at them and Katniss raised her hands as his machete came up to protect himself.

"We won't hurt you." She said instantly.

He eyed the bow in her hand and then the deer on the ground.

"We were just hunting for food for the big group at the Cornucopia. Were you coming to join us?" Glimmer asked.

He nodded slowly, not looking so sure at his decision.

"Why don't you come with us?" Katniss asked.

He stared at her, squinting his eyes. Then she remembered how he hovered over Rue at the Training Center, glaring at anyone who looked at her the wrong way. He was protective of her.

"Rue is there. We've kept her safe. She is perfectly fine." She said hesitantly.

His eyes lit up a little at the mention of the little girl.

"You… protected her?" he asked softly.

She nodded quickly and he lowered his arm.

"I will go with you." He decided.

Katniss sighed with relief and lowered her arms. She watched in amazement as he easily lifted the two large stags and threw them over his shoulders.

"You will lead?" he asked.

She nodded again and darted forward to snatch up the rabbit before turning to walk back to the Cornucopia.

"By the way, the electrical field around the arena. It's gone down. It isn't up any longer." the boy said.

Katniss turned around to look at him with wide eyes.

"You mean, we're not stuck in the arena?" she asked.

He nodded and her battered face broke into a wide grin.

* * *

When they arrived back at the Cornucopia, there were three new additions to the group. That made all eleven remaining people present. They didn't look hesitant at all, instead sitting in the circle with everyone else. Everyone looked up at their approach. Rue jumped up and ran to the District 11 boy as he let the deer slide to the ground. She wrapped her little arms around his big body and he hugged her back.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Thresh!" she exclaimed.

Katniss smiled at the little girl's obvious happiness. One of the girls, the District 5 girl who Katniss knew as Foxface, jumped up and ran over.

"I'm Saffra Whishart!" she exclaimed.

Katniss's eyes widened at her openness.

"Hi." She said hesitantly.

* * *

An hour later, the meat from the deer was cooking over a fire in the center of the circle.

"So we just… leave?" Marvel asked.

"What else do we do, stay here?" another boy asked, his name was Gaius Edenthaw and he was from District 3.

"We don't even know where we are." Glimmer said.

"We find out. We can't just be out in the middle of nowhere. We know we're in Panem and anywhere in Panem isn't more than a day's walk to at least one of the Districts." Katniss said.

Everyone looked at her and winced at her darkening eye. But they knew she was right.

"If they already tried to kill us, why would we go to any Districts? Wouldn't we just be playing into the Capitol's hands?" Clove asked.

"I agree with Fire Girl. We can't just stay here. This arena is a ticking time bomb. Anything could happen." Cato said.

Katniss stared at him with a surprised face. He actually agreed with her. What was going on with this boy? Everyone else was just as shocked as she was. She looked around the group to take note of who they had. Marvel and Glimmer from 1, Cato and Clove from 2, Gaius from 3, Briar Erwin from 4, Saffra from 5, Thresh and Rue from 11, and herself and Peeta from 12. Eleven people. As pissed off as Katniss was about the thirteen people that died in the past few days, she was impressed at what was happening.

They were making history. Never before had eleven people survived the Hunger Games. Never before had more than one person survived the games. Though, as far as Katniss knew, everyone thought they were dead after the bomb blasts. She sighed as she thought of what lied ahead of them. As her eyes flickered from person to person, they finally rested on one tribute. The one who confused her so. His blue eyes stared back at her and she felt her cheeks grow hot under his gaze.

She hoped that her bruise would hide her blush but she didn't look away from him. Katniss held Cato's gaze steadily, not backing down no matter what her instincts told her. His face, for once, was not emotionless. That didn't make him any less of a mystery. She couldn't identify any of the emotions flickering through his eyes. Katniss found herself longing to figure out this boy and she wondered why she was suddenly drawn to him. Little did she know, he was wondering why the hell he was drawn to her.

**Author's Note: I know that not much happened in this chapter. Sorry about that. Next chapter, they start trying to get out of the arena. Katniss tries to figure out Cato and why he so suddenly was ok with ending the fighting. Review please! Pretty pretty please! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

"Ok seriously! Stop grumbling or I will shoot you myself!" Katniss exclaimed.

She didn't know who was complaining but she was tired of it. When she turned back around, she saw Glimmer smirking at her.

"What?" she questioned her.

"You're so commanding. I guess that'll make the sugar time good." Glimmer shrugged.

That was not a good time to take a drink of water. Katniss choked and sputtered loudly, unable to take a breath as she gasped for air. Everyone in front of them turned back to look at them questioningly. Katniss waved them off but still fought to breathe.

"Sugar time?" she hissed when she finally composed herself.

"Yeah. There is a little girl around here. I have to censor." Glimmer said with a coy grin.

"There will be no sugar time." she said, shaking her head vigorously.

Glimmer snorted.

"I highly doubt that." she said.

"Why?" Katniss asked carefully.

"No reason." Glimmer sang, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Katniss watched as she skipped ahead and joined Marvel, saying something that made both of them laugh.

"How is your eye?" a voice asked, making Katniss jump out of her skin.

She looked around to see Clove trudging along behind her.

"It's… all right." Katniss said, shocked that she was talking to her.

The anger was still there from her killing Imanol but Katniss found that she couldn't keep blaming her. It was all she knew. If Katniss could look past Cato's actions, she could look past Clove's as well.

"It looks pretty swollen. Your bottle of water is cold. If you hold it against it, the swelling will go down pretty fast." Clove said.

Katniss followed her direction and the cool bottle of water soothed the angry bruise.

"You know a lot about this. Did you know a doctor?" Katniss asked.

Clove looked at her with wide eyes and shook her head before slowing down to be at the back of the group. That was weird. Katniss was used to weird, as it was part of her daily life. But that was extra weird. Especially since Clove usually acted like she hated her.

"Can we take a break yet? We've been hiking for two hours?" Briar whined.

"No!" Katniss was surprised that another voice joined her own.

She lifted her eyes to see Cato's head turn around and she bit her lip so she wouldn't smile. Then she remembered that at the beginning of the hike, she wanted to ask Cato something that she was curious about. She sped up past everyone, ignoring Glimmer's suggestive look.

"Hey." She said when she finally reached Cato's side.

She was rewarded with an answering grunt.

"Is that a 'go away' grunt or a 'keep talking, I'm very interested in what you have to say Katniss' grunt?" she asked, looking up at him.

He looked down at her with surprise.

"Did you just make a joke, Fire Girl?" he asked.

"I'm not all business, Muscles." She shot back.

He smirked down at her and she looked away from him and around the forest with a patient face.

"Well?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, I was waiting for you to tell the type of grunt." She said innocently.

He shook his head, looking as though he was torn between laughing and rolling his eyes.

"The second one." He finally decided.

"Why were you so eager to end the games?" she asked immediately.

His face grew serious and looked straight ahead with a serious gaze.

"Ca…" she began.

"Don't." he cut her off.

She fell silent, looking at her feet as they walked. Cato suddenly stopped her and she looked up with surprise. She was about to walk into a large branch, which probably wouldn't have helped her much. She flushed with embarrassment and ducked underneath it before she continued walking.

"They tried to kill us." He mumbled.

"Hmm?" she said, surprised that he began talking.

"The Capitol, they tried to kill us. I was thinking about it the whole way to the Cornucopia when I was walking with you and Rue. At first, I thought maybe it was rebels that attacked us. I've heard whispers for the past few years that they still existed. But those hovercrafts that we saw, they're a special kind of hovercraft. I've seen them fly in and out of District 2 where the Peacemakers are trained. They are made specifically to carry big Capitol weapons. The kind of weapons that they used to level District 13." He fell silent, looking as though he was thinking.

"They betrayed us." Katniss said.

His eyes flickered to her.

"They betrayed you. That's why you wanted the games to end. You didn't want to be their entertainment anymore. You feel betrayed by the people you and your District have put your trust in for a long time." she said softly.

"I just can't help but think. What if they didn't stop with us? What if they didn't just try to bomb us? What if they killed my family? My friends? My mentors and everyone else?" Cato mumbled.

Katniss didn't know what to say.

"I've consistently thought of the horrors that the Capitol could do to my family for the past five years. I have had nightmares about it. About the games. About everything. I can tell you one thing, Cato. It doesn't help to worry about it. It just takes up time and energy that can be spent doing much better things. For me, I had to provide for my family and for a lot of the families who lived around me. I had a lot of people who depended on me to do stuff just like you do. Look around you. All of these kids, they are all scared in their own way.

They need someone to be there for them. To be the strong person in the group. I know that you, in your own way, are afraid. But if you can stand up, if you can be the strong person, you will be these kids' hero. And when you find your family and you tell them all about your brave escape from the arena, you can have these kids around you telling them how much you helped. How you were their strength in a very scary time. You can proudly tell them that you were fighting to get out of this arena so that you could see them again and so that these kids could see their families again." Katniss finished her rant, staring at the ground the whole time.

She didn't look at Cato to see his reaction.

"But…" he trailed off.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

He was staring down at her with hesitant eyes.

"I'm not like that. I've never been like that. I've always been Cato Selkirke, Career tribute who would one day win the Hunger Games and bring honor to his District. I've never been good." He said.

"Here's your chance." Katniss said simply.

She began to fade towards the middle of the group again.

"No." Cato said, catching her hand.

Her skin erupted in warm chills again as her heart rate sped up again.

"Stay here, with me? Be my strength?" he asked.

Katniss's eyes widened. Was he asking for her help? She nodded slowly, catching back up with him. It took a moment for her to realize he hadn't let go of her hand yet. His thumb softly swept over her wrist just before dropped it and they kept hiking along.

* * *

After another two hours of hiking, Katniss and Cato remaining silent as they led the group through the forest, Katniss felt a hand tugging on her arm. She looked to see Rue stumbling along next to her.

"Can we please rest? I'm tired." she whimpered.

Katniss saw her eyes drooping and she stopped, looking at the small girl.

"How about you jump on my back?" she said, turning around.

Rue's arms slid around her shoulders and her legs wrapped around her waist. Katniss held onto her bow as they walked. After about thirty minutes, though, she began to feel the added effort of carrying another human. When she finally stumbled to her knees, Rue slid off of her.

"I'm sorry, Katniss." She said, helping her up.

"It's ok, Rue. I'm just not used to the extra weight and with my head…" she said, gesturing to her once again throbbing head.

Before either of them could say another word, Rue was swept into the air and placed on another, much larger back. Katniss watched with wide eyes as Cato carried Rue on his back effortlessly. She hurried to catch up with them and looked up at Cato with a slight smile.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Nothing." She murmured, but she shot him another look of surprise.

He kept surprising her and every time, she felt more drawn to the boy from District 2.

* * *

It was about another six hours of hiking and about an hour of rest before they reached the edge of the arena. They could tell because the ground was scorched and there was no trees or bushes for a fifteen-foot space.

"Now can we rest?" Rue asked from atop Marvel's shoulders.

The stronger boys kept taking turns holding Rue. No one let Peeta have her because, no matter how much Katniss argued for him (and she ranted for about an hour) they didn't trust him after his so-called 'fists of fury'. Katniss would credit that to Glimmer's intelligent words.

"We should get at least a little bit past the arena and then we can rest for about a day." Cato said.

Katniss agreed with him. They should put as much distance between themselves and the arena while they were still walking. They walked for about another hour until they reached a meadow with a lake in the middle. Marvel ran to it with a giggling Rue on his shoulders and splashed into it. A few people followed him, relishing in the cool water after a long time of walking.

Katniss simply collapsed where she was and laid her cheek on the cool grass.

"Katniss." A hesitant voice said.

Her eyes flipped open and she sat up, turning to hesitantly look at Peeta.

"Yes?" she asked calmly.

His eyes flickered to her bruised eye and he looked regretful.

"I'm so sorry." Katniss shook her head and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't meant to, Peeta." She said.

"Hey Lover Boy." Glimmer snarled, sitting next to Katniss.

She glared at him. Katniss smiled sadly at Peeta's apologetic face and removed her hand.

"So tell me, did you really mean what you said? Are you in love with our Katniss?" Glimmer asked.

Peeta looked panicked for a moment before he stood and ran off. Glimmer began laughing uncontrollably.

"What?" Katniss asked.

She had no idea what happened or why Glimmer was laughing.

"Nothing." Glimmer shook her head before stretching out on the grass.

Katniss shrugged and stretched out with her. She saw movement to the left of her, by the lake. It wasn't surprising because almost everyone was gathered over there, relishing in their freedom from the arena and the Capitol's prying eyes. The thing that caught her eye was the boy kneeling by himself on the other side of the lake. He was shirtless and… damn the boy was ripped. Cato was washing his shirt in the cool water. Suddenly he leaned over and submerged his head completely in the water before yanking it out and shaking his head like a dog.

Katniss shook from fighting back her giggles. Apparently Glimmer noticed because she looked past Katniss to see Cato.

"Like I said, sugar time." she murmured in Katniss's ear before getting up and darting off to the lake.

Katniss stared after her gaping, her mouth opening and closing like a fish in her astonishment. Her and Cato? Sugar time? It was a ridiculous thought. She shook her head. Then her eyes drifted back over to the boy in question. He had his shirt back on and for a moment Katniss was disappointed. Then she realized that it was still clinging to his strong torso, showing every rippled muscle. She tore her eyes away and stared at the sky. It wasn't until a shadow fell over her and water dripped on her a few minutes ago that she tore her eyes away from a particularly fluffy cloud.

Cato stood above her, looking like a giant.

"You don't want to join everyone else?" he asked.

She shook her head slowly, forcing herself not to look at his broad chest and ripped abs.

He sat on the ground next to her and she went back to focusing on the sky instead of the boy next to her.

"So the bow and arrow. Is that how you got your eleven?" Cato asked.

Katniss dared to crack a smile.

"It's possible." She replied.

"Tell me what happened." He said, lying down on his side with his head resting on his hand as his elbow was propped up and his eyes were staring at her.

She sighed and turned over, assuming the same position as him.

"Well I went in and I think that all of the Gamemakers were drunk. They were rowdy and I was already annoyed. I rushed over to the archery table because I hadn't touched a bow in days. I was dying to use it." Katniss said.

"Why did you avoid it in group training?" Cato asked.

"Because Haymitch, my mentor, told me to. He said that I couldn't show you my strengths. That I had to keep it to myself until the games. The only person who knew was Peeta." Katniss explained.

"That's a pretty good plan. My mentor told me to show everyone everything I had in training so that they would be intimidated." Cato said with a smirk.

"Anyway. So I grabbed the bow and a sheath of arrows and I took my place in front of the dummies. The bow was tighter than I was used to and I missed the first dummy. That's when they stopped paying attention to me. They were paying more attention to their food and wine. Then I figured out the bow and I made a couple of good shots. When I looked at the table, none of them were even looking at me. I got angry. I was furious actually. They were all looking at this disgusting fat roast pig that came out with an apple in its mouth. Of course, being me and hot-headed, I shot at them." She said with a slight smile.

Cato's eyes widened.

"You what?" he asked in an unbelieving tone.

"Well, not at them. I shot through the apple and it stuck in the wall. But I got their attention and that's all I cared about at the moment. Then I walked out. I didn't wait for a dismissal. I just bowed and left." She shrugged.

Cato started chuckling. Actually guffawing at her. Katniss's eyes widened. She never heard him laugh outside of his menacing, taunting laugh.

"Why are you laughing at me? I was terrified! I thought that I would be arrested. I thought they would kill me and then punish my family!" she said, finally laughing along with him.

"You are one hot-headed girl." he said finally, shaking his head at her.

"That's what my dad used to say. Someday, Katniss, your temper is going to get the best of you." She said in a deep voice.

"Used to?" Cato asked and Katniss was reminded of Glimmer when she questioned Katniss about her father's archery abilities.

She immediately sobered up and turned away from him, staring up at the sky.

"Fire Girl?" Cato asked.

To try to distract from her sudden somber attitude, her annoyance level rose.

"I have a name." she snapped angrily before getting up and stomping off towards the lake to cool down.

Even five years after the explosion she hated talking about her father. It was her natural response to anyone who prodded her about it. Even Prim sometimes got the better side of Katniss's temper when she wanted to talk about him. Katniss pulled off her shoes and rolled her pants up before dipping her feet in the water. She slipped off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves before sitting back on a rock and glowering at the water.

She didn't pay attention to the shouts of glee and laughter around her. All she felt was the emptiness that she still felt when she thought about her father. Then that would lead to her anger towards her mother for abandoning them in their time of need. Then that would lead to the anger at whatever or whoever decided that Katniss's life had to be so bad. That the beautiful marriage of Wade and Thalia Everdeen had to be broken apart and the Everdeen family with it.

"Katniss?" Rue's small voice questioned as she walked up to her.

She was drenched in water but didn't seem to care. Katniss managed a fleeting smile for her but wasn't able to keep it on her face long before it became a grimace.

"Are you ok?" Rue asked, sitting beside her on the boulder.

"I'm… I'm just thinking about my dad." Katniss mumbled.

"Do you miss him?" the little girl asked, looking up at her.

"Every single day." Katniss nodded.

"I miss my dad too. And my mom and my siblings. I miss everyone." Rue admitted.

"Don't worry munchkin. We'll get you to your family again." Katniss assured her, gathering her in a motherly hug.

"You too, right? You'll see your dad again." Rue said innocently.

The pain hit Katniss in the hardest way. She reminded herself that Rue had no idea and she didn't want the girl to feel bad for bringing it up.

"Of course I will." Katniss said, trying to put up a brave front.

Unfortunately, she couldn't help a tear that slid down her face. Then another followed. Then another and another.

"Katniss?" Rue said, sounding devastated.

She inhaled deeply and looked around, trying not to let the little girl see. Unfortunately that motion made her look straight at Peeta, who was watching. When she looked away from him, she looked at Glimmer, who was also watching. They could all she the tears overflowing from her eyes. Finally, her eyes rested on Cato, who was staring at her as well. Who wasn't watching her at her moment of weakness?

She jumped up and furiously wiped at her eyes, trying to get the traitor tears to stop. It wasn't working. She launched away from the boulder and towards the trees. Someone called her name.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted, her voice cracking as her body wracked with sobs.

She dove into the trees and ran until she couldn't go any further. She collapsed against and trees and began wailing into her hands. She cried for herself and for the fallen tributes that didn't make it until the games were called off. She cried for Imanol, who she so fiercely wanted to protect. She cried for the families of the remaining tributes who probably thought that their children were dead and she cried for her own family who were probably in danger because of her.

Most of all, Katniss cried for her father who, as much as she wished that Rue's assurance would come true, she would never see again. At that moment, more than any other moment in the past five years she needed her father's strength. It seemed like it was endless for him. He would have gladly shared it if he were there. After she cried herself, she braced her hand on the tree to stand up. She looked strangely at the tree when she felt grooves underneath her fingers.

She pulled her hand away and gasped at what she saw carved into the tree.'

_This tree is the _

_sole property of _

_Katniss and Primrose Everdeen _

_as ordained by _

_Gale Hawthorne._

**Author's Note: Tell me what you think! Next chapter, something major is revealed and Katniss has the opportunity to get close to Cato. Very close to Cato. Review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

"_I don't want to hunt!" Prim cried as they walked through the trees._

"_I know you don't Prim. But what if something happens to me and you are left alone?" Katniss asked as she helped her sister step over a tall log._

_She didn't want to say it out loud, but what she really meant was, what if you get reaped and you're dropped in the middle of a forest with no food?_

"_Gale will help us." Prim said simply._

_Katniss looked up to see Gale watching them with amused eyes._

"_What if something happens to Gale?" she asked calmly._

"_Then we'll give up because we obviously have really bad luck." Prim said, grinning up at her big sister._

_Katniss couldn't help but laugh at her sister's joke._

"_You're a mess, little duck." She said, mussing up her hair._

_Suddenly the bushes a few feet away from them rustled. Katniss had her arrow strung within moments and she was ready. Almost as soon as the rabbit jumped out, the arrow was stuck through its eye. Prim cried out in terror and turned, burying her head in Katniss's stomach. She sighed and dropped the bow, wrapping her arms around her sister._

"_I'm sorry, Prim. I should have known that you wouldn't like this. I promise I won't make you do it again." Katniss murmured._

_Gale looked at them sadly. He knew why Katniss wanted Prim to learn so badly._

"_Hey Prim." Gale said, taking her hand and leading her away from the dead rabbit._

_Katniss followed wanting to see what was up Gale's sleeve._

"_Why don't you pick a tree somewhere in this forest?" he asked._

"_Why?" Prim wondered, drying her eyes of the tears she shed._

"_Because then we can make it be yours forever." He said with a smile._

_Katniss smiled at him. He was good with Prim. She was lucky that he was because sometimes Katniss did or said the perfectly wrong thing and upset Prim. Just like making her watch a rabbit get shot._

"_You can't make a tree be mine forever!" Prim giggled._

"_Yes I can too. Pick a tree and I'll prove it to you." Gale said._

_Prim looked around and pointed to the tree._

"_That one." She said._

_Katniss looked up at it. It was a very tall and thick tree. Prim picked a perfect tree for hiding but that wasn't the purpose of this. Gale pulled out his pocketknife and led Prim over to it. Katniss followed, watching as Gale began to carve into it._

_This tree is the_

_sole property of_

"_Wait! You have to put Katniss's name on it too! We can share the tree!" Prim exclaimed._

"_You don't have to do that, little duck. I can own another tree." Katniss said._

"_No, I want to share." Prim said stubbornly._

_Gale smiled at the two sisters and continued to carve._

_Katniss and Primrose Everdeen _

_as ordained by _

_Gale Hawthorne_

_Prim laughed and clapped excitedly._

"_It will be ours forever!" she exclaimed._

"_And anytime we get lost and we find this tree, it'll guide us home." Katniss said, kissing her little sister on the cheek._

"_We'll have to be really lost. This is far from home." Prim said with a wrinkled nose._

"_Thank you." Katniss said to Gale._

"_Anytime, Catnip." He shrugged before he stood._

"_You know what, Prim?" he said._

"_What?" she asked excitedly._

"_I think I hear water!" he shouted before ran off in the direction of the water._

_Katniss and Prim followed him, Katniss running slowly so that Prim could keep up. They finally reached a beautiful meadow with a gorgeous lake._

"_It's so pretty!" Prim marveled before she ran to the many flowers growing in the meadow._

* * *

Katniss crashed through the trees. How had she not recognized the meadow? They'd spent hours there. But they never came back. She hadn't even seen the tree since Gale carved into it.

When she broke into the meadow, breathing heavily from having ran as hard as she could, everyone looked at her.

"I know… I know… where we are." She wheezed, bending over to catch her breath.

"Stand up and put your hands above your head." Cato said gruffly as they all surrounded her.

"What are you… a Peacemaker?" she demanded.

"It helps you get your breath back." he said with a roll of his eyes.

Katniss did as he said and felt her breath coming back slowly.

"Get your stuff, follow me." she said, walking over and grabbing her bag before plunging back into the forest.

Everyone followed, most of them muttering about how she could possibly know where they were.

When she saw the tree, she stopped and leaned against another.

"So?" Cato asked.

Katniss simply pointed at the marked tree. He walked over to it and his eyes widened in shock. Everyone else walked over to read it and had the same reactions.

"Did you just carve this?" Briar asked.

They all stared at her.

"Yes, I brought you in here to look at something that I just carved. Thought it would be cool." Katniss said, obviously sarcastic.

"How far are we?" Peeta asked, obviously happy that they were so close to their District.

"About three miles. It's the farthest that Gale and I ever went hunting." Katniss explained.

"Wait, you hunted?" Clove asked.

Katniss nodded.

"That's illegal." Three different people said at the same time.

"I couldn't care less if I even tried." She said with a shrug as she stood.

"Better get going." She said.

"Wait, why do we have to go to your District?" Briar demanded.

"Because it's the closest, there's food and supplies, and shelter." Katniss said in a obvious tone.

Everyone just stared at the girl as though she were stupid.

"Why wouldn't we go there?" Marvel asked, shaking his head at her.

"Lead the way, Fire Gi…" Cato trailed off, remembering her outburst from earlier.

Katniss shook her head and began trekking through the forest along the path she knew well. Finally she felt like something was on her side. Her heart leapt when she thought about seeing Prim and her mom and Gale. She was even excited to see Greasy Sae.

When she could see the broken electrical fence in the distance, she began to walk a little faster. Everyone complained and tried to keep up with her. It only took a moment for Katniss to break out into a full run. The Hob came within view and she felt like jumping for joy. Then she skidded to a halt with a frown. There was something wrong. It was too quiet. The Hob was usually teeming with people from the Seam but it was completely deserted.

When she ducked through the fence and walked to it, she peeked inside to see that it was entirely empty. Her instincts all screamed at her to run and she did just that. She ran to the group and shoved them back into the trees, hunching down and looking out. Two Peacekeepers appeared and looked around as if they'd heard something. They weren't the normal Peacekeepers of District 12. These were the Peacekeepers that one would find in the capital.

"What is it?" Peeta asked.

"The Hob is empty, everything is gone." Katniss said.

"What's the Hob?" Glimmer asked.

"It's a black market trading center. I would trade my kills for bread or other foods." Katniss said, her eyes trained on Peeta.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

Katniss had no idea.

* * *

"You're going to what?" Glimmer exclaimed.

"Peeta and I know this place. It would be stupid of us to both go in and I've got a long distance weapon. Plus, I know a lot more of the shadier spots than Peeta." Katniss said.

"You can't go in alone." Peeta argued.

"I have to. Peeta is not going to come with me. If I get captured or killed, you'll need someone to help you get through District 12." Katniss said.

"I'll go with you." Cato said.

Everyone looked at him.

"Why?" Katniss asked.

"Because with me, no one will have a chance to even mess with you." He shrugged.

Everyone agreed with Cato except for Katniss but she knew that she didn't have much of a choice. He would follow her and he was too big for her to threaten.

"Fine." She huffed, standing up.

"Stay here." She hissed at everyone. Her and Cato walked through the field slowly to the fence. She ducked under it first and waited on him.

"Where are we going first?" Cato asked.

"My house." Katniss decided instantly. She had to see if Prim and her mom were all right. Or even there.

They walked around the edge of the town so as to avoid the Peacekeepers. It was the route she usually took to the forest and back home. When she saw her home coming up in the distance, she sighed with relief that it was still standing. Suddenly Cato stopped.

"What?" Katniss said.

"I thought I saw something." He said, looking out into the distance.

"Saw what?" she demanded.

Instead of answering her, he walked in the direction of whatever he saw, disappearing around a building.

"Cato!" she hissed.

She heard a grunt and her eyes widened. Before she could run around the building, a figure blocked her path. It was a dangerous looking Peacekeeper.

"Well well, what do we have here? A traitor?" he asked.

"No, I'm not a traitor. I'm Katniss Everdeen. From the Hunger Games. I'm a District 12 tribute." She explained, backing up as he walked towards her.

He laughed aloud, shaking his head as if she told the funniest joke.

"The tributes are all dead. The Rebels destroyed the arena with them inside. You're lying to me, Katniss." He said, pulling out a knife.

"No! I'm the Girl on Fire!" she growled, pulling out an arrow and stringing it. Before she could fire it, two arms grabbed her from behind and yanked the bow out of her grasp.

She heard it snap and turned to see another Peacekeeper holding the two pieces of her weapon. He yanked the quiver off of her back and threw it away.

"We're going to have some fun with you, traitor." He said suggestively.

Katniss's eyes widened. Surely he didn't mean what she thought he meant. Her question was answered when he tackled her to the ground and began trying to pull her shirt over her head. She screamed and struggled, trying to get him away from her. She heard the other Peacekeeper cackling in the background. Suddenly the man grunted as he was yanked off of her.

Katniss looked up to see Cato wrestling him to the ground. Katniss scurried away and watched as the big District 2 boy pummeled the Peacemaker.

"Watch out!" she screeched when the other Peacemaker descended on him.

All of the sudden they were both pounding their fists into Cato. If he'd only been taking on one he would have been fine. But together they were more than a match for him, especially with him caught off guard and tired from walking through the forest so much. Katniss looked around with anything that she could use to help. She spotted the Peacemaker's discarded knife on the ground and scrambled to it, picking it up.

Then she ran at them and the knife slid easily into one Peacemaker's gut. It was the one who tried to take advantage of her. In a moment of blind fury, she became angry at this man for making her weak. She twisted the knife and heard him groan as he fell. He wasn't dead yet. Katniss stared down at the bloody knife in her hand. Cato staggered up and threw the Peacemaker on the ground.

Then he began to bludgeon him with a large branch that he found on the ground. Blood spattered Katniss but she didn't move, watching as Cato brought the Peacemaker closer and closer to death with each blow to his body. Finally the man wasn't moving and Cato stopped. He looked up at Katniss with wild eyes. He was covered in both his blood and the blood of the Peacemaker. Then he dropped the bloody, splintered branch and turned to the other Peacemaker.

He kneeled down and took the man's neck in his arms.

"You deserve a slow painful death but unfortunately I'm all out of energy. So I'll have to settle for squeezing the life out of you."

Katniss stared down at the man as he grasped at Cato's hands and ran out of air. Just as the light began to fade from his eyes, Cato snapped his neck easily. Then he slowly backed away and staggered to his feet.

"Are you ok?" he mumbled.

"I'm… that doesn't matter. You're not ok." Katniss said.

Cato waved her off and then stumbled a few steps.

"Let's get to my house." She said, catching him and attempting to hold him upright.

"Why? You know your family isn't there. Everyone would have come out at this ruckus." Katniss tried not to listen to what he was saying but it made sense.

She helped him to the house and inside the door. It looked the exact same. Katniss ran to her mother's cabinet and pulled out her first aid kit and all the medicine in there. She had no idea what to do but she knew that she would have to figure it out.

"I have to get your shirt off." She said as she threw the stuff down on the ground and helped him onto the sturdy table.

"So eager to get me out of my clothes, Fire Girl?" Cato asked, wiping blood from his split lip.

"Shut up." She said, but she was secretly glad that he was still able to joke around with her.

As soon as his shirt was over his head, she began looking for the injuries. She saw a long cut running from mid-abdomen all the way to under his pants. Katniss began blushing furiously and hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"What is it?" she almost cursed aloud.

"Your cut. I need to look at it." she said.

"Well go ahead." He said.

"All of it." she explained, putting her hand over her eyes.

She heard him chuckling and bit her lip.

"How can you laugh?" she screeched.

She heard the sound of fabric rustling and knew that he was getting out of his pants.

"Do my underpants go next, Fire Girl?" he asked teasingly.

She removed her hand to glare at him but really just got the full view of his fantastic muscular body. She shook her head and began to work on him, trying to ignore the fact that he was half naked and so warm and soft underneath her hands. When his numerous cuts were cleaned and bandaged, she focused on cleaning the blood off of the rest of his body. Luckily the water still worked.

"What are you thinking, Fire Girl? Do you want to jump my bones?" Cato asked.

Katniss spluttered out a nonresponse as she thought of Glimmer. Sugar time. She shook her head vigorously.

"There will be no jumping of bones and no sugar!" she hissed.

"Who said anything about sugar?" Cato asked, clearly amused at her embarrassment.

When all of the blood was off, Katniss drew away and sighed with relief that she no longer had to touch him.

"I'll go get you…" she was cut off by the sound of footsteps outside the house.

For some reason, her first instict was to protect Cato. Especially since he was in such a vulnerable position. She jumped on the table and laid herself across his body. After a moment of silence, Katniss realized a little too late that her legs were straddling his hips and that her face was buried in his naked chest. Her body was basically molded to his half naked one.

"Shit." Was all she could think of to say.

**Author's Note: I know that wasn't very long but I really wanted to get to that part. It's been in my head for a couple of days now. Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss was blushing furiously as she tried to think about how to get out of this situation. She'd really just meant to block Cato with her body. She should have known that wouldn't happen. Her legs had slipped off of his and her arms were too weak and tired to hold her up so she ended up collapsing onto his chest. She slowly picked herself up, keeping her eyes closed so that he wouldn't think she was staring at his body, which she really wanted to do. She gasped with surprise when two strong arms stopped her. Her eyes involuntarily popped open to meet with two blue eyes.

He looked as confused and shocked as she was. There was another emotion clouding his eyes, though. Lust. It scared her and she tried to wriggle out of his grip. Unfortunately that did more harm and good when she realized exactly what body part of his she was wriggling on. She stopped, letting out a horrified squeak. Instead of letting her go, Cato drew her closer until their faces were inches apart. She inhaled sharply as they stared into each other's eyes. Without meaning to, Katniss leaned closer, her eyes darting down to his lips and back up to his eyes.

When their lips were almost touching, a loud noise outside startled them. Cato's arms loosened and Katniss flipped off of him before looking around for a weapon. The front door slammed open and Katniss squinted into the sunlight to see who it was.

"Gale?" she gasped.

"Catnip?" was his answer.

She ran at him and jumped into his arms, hugging him closely to her.

"What happened here? Where are mom and Prim? Where is everyone? Why is the Hob so empty and why are the Capitol's peacemakers here?" Katniss demanded all at once.

Gale pulled away, looking at her with a confused expression before his eyes slid past her to look at Cato. His eyes darkened and she knew he recognized the District 2 boy.

"I'll be right back." Katniss said quickly before running out.

She came back in with some of her dad's old clothes and threw them at Cato. He stood slowly and dressed, never taking his eyes off of Gale.

"Gale! Where is everyone?" Katniss demanded.

"You don't know about the rebellion?" Gale asked.

She just stared at him. He pulled her over to the bed and sat next to her. Cato listened from his spot on the wall.

"Right after you went into the arena the rebels attacked the Capitol. They blew up Snow's mansion but he wasn't there. They also attacked the training center…" Katniss gasped, cutting Gale off.

"They blew up the training center? What about Haymitch and Cinna and Effie?" she demanded.

"They got them out first. The rebels took all of the mentors and everyone. Then they attacked the Gamemakers. Seneca Crane locked himself in the room where they controlled the arena." Gale said.

"That's how he was able to send us messages." Katniss said, looking at Cato.

He nodded slowly, scowling at Gale. Katniss wasn't sure why Cato was looking at him with such a hostile glare.

"The rebels were trying to figure out where the arena was so that they could rescue you. Then the news broke that the arena had been bombed and… well they told everyone you were dead. All of you. They blamed the bombs on the rebels but we all knew that it was the Capitol. They didn't want us to have the tributes on our side because you all would make really good soldiers." Gale said.

"Wait, we? Gale you're a part of the rebels?" Katniss asked.

Gale broke into a smile and nodded.

"The rebels did a propo and spread it around that the Capitol was responsible for bombing the arena and people in District 12 began to riot against the Capitol. That's when we all had to evacuate. Everyone left District 12 and we also evacuated all of the friends and families of the tributes." He explained.

"I don't understand. Where did they go?" Katniss asked, unable to wrap her head around everything that was happening.

Gale looked absolutely thrilled.

"They're in District 13." He said simply.

"What?" both Katniss and Cato demanded.

"Gale, that's impossible. District 13 is bombed. It's a complete wasteland, no one can live there." Katniss argued.

"That's true, but for the few years of the rebellion, the people at District 13 were building a huge underground bunker. It can literally hold millions of people. There are fields and lakes and everything under there. It's amazing." Gale said with wide eyes.

Katniss stood up and began pacing, millions of thoughts running through her head.

"So you're telling me that the entire District 13 is alive and flourishing. That they've waited seventy-four years to announce to the world that they still exist?" she said softly.

"Yes!" Gale exclaimed, looking happier than ever.

Katniss whirled around and glared at him, looking rather dangerous with wild eyes and blood still covering her from head to toe from the two peacemakers.

"No! This is not fucking amazing! This is terrible, Gale! District 13 has been around this entire time! Not a single person died when they were bombed! They have been safe and sound! Their children haven't been constantly threatened! Meanwhile hundreds of children have died for the rebellion District 13 caused! Our District and eleven other Districts have suffered numerous losses while District 13 has sat comfortably in their damn cave!" Katniss was screaming towards the end.

Gale watched her in shock as she trembled with anger.

"Katniss…" he began.

"Don't." she growled before stomping out.

Gale looked around awkwardly, meeting eyes with Cato a few times.

"So, you killed lots of people?" he asked.

Cato glared at him.

"What? Am I wrong?" he scoffed.

"Fuck off." Cato snapped.

"So why exactly were you half naked in here with Katniss?" he demanded.

"She was cleaning me up after I saved her from being attacked by two perverted peacemakers." Cato shot back.

Gale didn't have much to say after that.

"So that's why I found two dead peacemakers not far from here?" Cato nodded, glaring at Gale.

A few minutes later, Katniss walked out in fresh clothes with the blood washed off and her wet hair braided over her shoulder.

"We need to go find the other tributes." Katniss said.

"Wait, there's more?" Gale asked.

They both nodded and Katniss began to walk to the door. Cato caught her arm and she looked up at him.

"You ok?" he asked, surprising her with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine. I just need time to get used to everything. It's all changed. Everything." She mumbled.

"I know." He nodded.

Katniss bit her lip and looked up at him.

"How do your wounds feel?" she asked.

"Fine." He waved her off.

She walked to her mother's cabinet and pulled out pain medication, handing it to him to take along with her bottle of water.

"Sorry about your bow." Cato said.

Katniss cursed in her head. She'd forgotten that the peacemaker snapped her bow in half. She looked at Gale.

"I need to get my dad's bow." She said.

"I can get it. Take your group into town. You killed the only two peacemakers who patrol this area. The rest are around the border of District 12." Gale said.

Katniss nodded and walked out with Cato, separating with Gale at the fence. She grabbed the sheath of arrows from the ground without sparing the dead peacemakers another look.

"So what's the plan? We trust this Gale kid?" Cato asked.

"I've known Gale all my life." Katniss shrugged.

"And you said yourself that District 13 is… whatever. Are you sure that we should get involved in this whole rebellion thing?" Cato asked.

Katniss whirled around, staring him down.

"What else do we do? Go back to the Capitol? They tried to kill us, Cato." She said.

"I know that but maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they meant to go to District 12 and bomb it. We were so close to it." Katniss glared at him.

He was not making things better and he knew it.

"So you want to go scurrying back to the Capitol and pledge your allegiance to President Snow like your cowardly District has always done?" she demanded.

"Wait a minute, you can't just insult my District!" he snapped.

"I can and I will. Your District has always been the Capitol's lap dog!" she shouted.

"Because we know that the Capitol is…" Cato began.

"Don't you dare say that the Capitol is right! They murder 23 children per year. Even more if you count the starvation and poverty that happens all the time." Katniss interrupted him.

"I was going to say safe. The Capitol is the safe option." He said through gritted teeth.

"Well congratulations on you and your District for being safe for these past seventy-four years. Go running back to your safety blanket and meanwhile I am going to work as hard as _I _can to bring down the Capitol and to end their brutal fucking amusement!" Katniss spat.

She didn't realize that she'd gotten so close to Cato that their arms were touching until she noticed that his blue eyes were inches away from her grey ones. Every instinct in her body all of the sudden started screaming at her that she was in danger. She began to back up a step but his strong hands caught her and held her in place. He bent down to her ear and she shivered as his warm breath hit her skin.

"Do you really want me to go?" he whispered.

Her body erupted in warm shivers and she gripped his arms tightly.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, Cato. I'm just telling you what I'm going to do." She murmured.

"Katniss." As soon as his name fell from his lips, she felt as though she would collapse into his arms.

"That's the first time you've said my name." Katniss mumbled.

"Katniss. Do _you_ want me to go?" he asked again, holding her closely to him.

She shook her head slowly, tears springing to her eyes.

"No. Cato I don't want you to go." she admitted.

She didn't know why she needed him to stay. But she did. Just a few days ago she'd been convinced that he was a cold-blooded killer. But now that she'd seen a different side of him, everything changed. He pulled away from her and looked her full in the eyes. Then he bent down and her eyes fluttered closed in anticipation.

His lips brushed across hers very softly. She almost didn't feel it. Then he was gone and she was standing on her own. Katniss opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Ca…" she was cut off by him shaking his head.

"We need to get back to the others." He said gruffly, not looking at her.

She bit her lip hard to keep the tears at bay. She hadn't had the urge to cry this much in a long time.

"Ok." She said simply.

He turned around and she could see the war going on in his head. He was torn but she didn't know what he was torn about. Was it her? Was it the Capitol vs the rebellion? She shook her head and let go of her lip just as it drew blood. Then she turned away from him and headed into the forest, not looking back to see if he was following her.

* * *

"It's completely empty?" Peeta asked after Katniss explained everything to the group.

"Yes. They evacuated everyone. Your family is fine, Peeta." Katniss said.

"We're meeting this friend of yours in the town?" Glimmer asked.

"Yeah. I guess he'll tell us what to do next." She said.

"Great, let's get moving." Marvel said with a grin.

"I don't want to keep walking!" Briar whined.

Everyone glared at her.

"Do you want to get captured by peacemakers?" Cato growled.

She looked at him, fear filling her eyes, and shook her head.

"Then we keep walking." He snapped.

Katniss refused to look at him even though she could feel his eyes upon her. Her and Peeta led the group to the fence and Katniss waited back for everyone to duck under. Cato was last but she didn't pay attention when he tried to catch her eye.

They walked alongside each other without saying a word. She knew that Peeta was leading them to the town square. It looked so strange to see everything abandoned.

"Where are we going?" Cato asked finally.

"To the town square." Katniss said in a detached voice.

"Oh. The last time you were there…" the memory of volunteering for her sister and watching as Gale carried her away despite her cries flashed through her mind.

She needed to see Prim as soon as possible to make sure for herself that she was all right. From this point forward, she wouldn't trust anyone else to take care of her precious little sister.

When she heard gasps and cries of horror from the front of the group, she darted forward. It was only when she caught sight of Peeta's ashen face that she knew something bad happened. She followed his eye line and her hands clapped over her mouth to keep from screaming.

She turned and bit back the sobs that threatened to burst forth. She saw Rue with her head buried in Glimmer's stomach. Glimmer had a horrified look on her face and tears running down her cheeks. Even Clove looked a little bit sickened. Then Katniss's eyes met with Cato's and she felt her control slipping as she choked out a sob. When he stepped forward, she stepped away and forced herself to turn around and look once more.

Bodies were strewn across the town square. It was a massacre. But the three bodies that caught Katniss's eyes were the most horrifying. It was the mayor, his wife, and his daughter.

"Madge!" she finally screamed, her hand clutching the gold mockingjay that she'd transferred to her new clothing after she changed.

Katniss felt herself falling but just before she hit the ground, two arms wrapped around her waist and held her up as she wailed loudly. She saw Peeta kneeling on the ground, unable to keep his eyes off the horrific scene in front of them. She couldn't tear her eyes away either. They were transfixed on the terrified look that would forever be frozen on Madge Undersee's face.

**Author's Note: Sorry to leave it there! Review please! Please please please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss heard someone whispering in her ear as she cried loudly. They were soothing words but they did nothing to calm her down. Finally, when her mind couldn't take anymore of the nightmare-ish scene in front of her, she turned and buried her face in Cato's chest. The tears continued to spill out of her eyes and onto the shirt he was wearing. It didn't help that Katniss could still smell remnants of her father on the old shirt.

"Katniss?" a new voice questioned.

She moved her head to see Gale standing there with wide eyes.

"Who did this?" she cried, moving out of Cato's arms to look at him.

"I don't… I think it was the peacemakers. I didn't think you would go this far into the town." He said, his face pale.

"You knew about this?" she screamed, jabbing her finger at the bloody scene.

"I… I didn't think…" he trailed off.

"Madge was my friend! One of my only friends other than you! You didn't think I'd want to know that someone massacred her and her family?" she demanded as the tears overflowed.

"I'm sorry." Gale said, stepping forward with his arms held out as if he would hug her.

"No!" she yelled, shaking her head furiously as she stepped away from him.

Then she whirled around and saw Cato still standing there, looking lost and unsure.

"Cato." She sobbed, throwing herself into his arms.

At that moment, she didn't care that he'd killed people. She didn't care that he'd been so terrible to her a few days ago and that he'd drawn away from her just a few minutes ago when they'd barely kissed. At that moment, his arms felt like the safest place in the world.

* * *

"How?" Katniss asked hoarsely.

Everyone was gathered around a fire next to Gale's old house. Apparently that's where the rebels would be picking up Gale the next morning.

"Some of the people refused to leave District 12 even though they knew they would be targeted. The rebels practically named you as their shining star. It was their home and they were being stubborn. So the mayor refused to leave the people but tried to get his wife and Madge to leave. Of course they refused to leave him. Then the peacemakers came." Gale explained.

"And they just massacred them?" Katniss said with a shake of her head.

Gale nodded.

She turned her gaze on him.

"Why did you lie to me?" she asked softly.

Gale could obviously tell that she was furious and hiding it. The ability to hide her emotions was one of Katniss's best features.

"I just… I didn't want it to upset you." Gale said.

"That's not your decision. It never was. Madge was a close friend and I deserved to know that she was brutally murdered." She said through gritted teeth.

He didn't say anything, instead turning to stare at the fire.

"The rest of the people, they're the ones who stayed behind?" she asked, following his lead and staring into the fire.

"Yep." Gale said.

Katniss shook her head.

"Dammit!" she cursed, kicking at a rock.

She felt everyone's eyes on her but didn't look up, instead burying her head in her hands. She felt Gale put his hand on her knee and she slapped it away.

"Don't touch me." she snapped before standing up and walking away, leaning against Gale's house.

She heard someone walking up behind her.

"Leave me alone, Gale." She snapped, turning around.

Her mouth snapped closed when she saw who it was.

"Peeta." She mumbled.

"Are our families ok?" he asked.

"Of course. Gale told us that they were evacuated." Katniss said.

"And he also didn't tell you that the Undersees were killed! What else is he lying about?" Peeta demanded.

Katniss looked to see everyone at the fire looking over at them.

"Peeta calm down. I am sure that Gale would not lie to us about our own families. He lied about Madge and her family so that I wouldn't have to deal with it." Katniss said softly.

Peeta scoffed.

"You always see the good in people, Katniss. It's almost a fault of yours. I guess that's why you're ok with hanging out with Glimmer and Marvel when they've murdered people younger than you and why you're all over Cato all the time when he's a brutal murderer!" Peeta exclaimed.

"Peeta, stop! You are being ridiculous!" Katniss hissed.

"No! What is wrong with you? Why are you suddenly all right with them? They killed people!" Peeta shouted, jabbing his finger towards the tributes.

Suddenly a hand dragged Peeta away from her. Another arm pulled Katniss away and shoved them behind her.

"Get off of me!" she heard Peeta growl.

She tried to push past Cato but he was holding her back.

"You aren't getting anywhere near her, Bread Boy!" Marvel grunted as he held him back.

Katniss finally darted around Cato.

"This is ridiculous, let him go." she said, noticing that the rest of the tributes and Gale had gathered around them.

"No, we aren't going to let him hurt you again." Glimmer said with a shake of her head as she tried to pull Katniss away.

"He's not going to hurt me! He was sleeping and I woke him up suddenly from a nightmare! It could have happened to anyone!" Katniss defended him, gesturing to her blackened eye.

"Wait, he did that to you?" Gale demanded, stepping forward and glaring at Peeta.

"Gale stop." she said, trying to get everyone to calm down.

"I thought you were supposed to love her, not abuse her!" Gale shouted.

"I didn't abuse her!" Peeta shouted, fighting against Marvel.

"He didn't abuse me!" Katniss confirmed.

"And like you have any room to talk! You lied to us about the evacuations. You made it seem like nobody died! Where is my family?" Peeta demanded.

"I didn't lie about your family! They're fine!" Gale yelled back.

"Yeah? You better hope so or I am going to kill you!" Peeta yelled.

"And you claim that you're so much better than these people!" Gale snapped.

"Just stop it!" Katniss screamed, stomping in between everyone.

She glared between Gale and Peeta.

"Calm the hell down. Now. I am not going to put up with you screaming at each other like this." She said, putting her hands between them and nodding at Cato and Marvel to let them go.

The two boys continued to glare at each other.

"Calm. Down." She said shortly.

Then she turned away from them.

"Katniss?" they both said at the same time.

She stopped but didn't look at them.

"I don't want to speak to either of you right now." She growled before stomping a few feet into the forest and leaning against a tree.

After a few moments of silence, she heard someone coming up behind her.

"What do you want?" she asked softly.

She didn't even have to look to know who it was. It was as if she had a new built in ability to know when he was anywhere near her.

"I…" Cato trailed off.

"Come to lecture me too? To tell me not to trust another person that is in my life? Stand in line." She said bitterly as she stubbornly faced away from him.

"No, I'm not going to do that." Cato said.

"No really, please tell me what you're thinking. I have Peeta telling me not to trust Gale or any of you. I have Gale telling me not to trust anyone but him. I have Glimmer, Marvel and the rest of them telling me not to trust Peeta and giving Gale the evil eye. If I listened to everyone who gave me advice, I wouldn't have anyone in this world. So do I listen to everyone and have no one or not listen to them and have no one?" Katniss asked.

"You always have someone, Katniss." He mumbled.

"Oh really? Who?" she scoffed.

"You have me." Cato said simply.

She could detect a hint of hope in his voice.

"You? The boy who was barely able to kiss me without flinching away?" she said softly.

Cato winced and looked down.

"I'm sorry about that." he whispered.

"I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to make it go away." She shot back.

His eyes snapped up to hers, surprised.

"You want it to go away? You want us to not have kissed? You regret it?" he asked.

"No, Cato. I don't regret the kiss. I regret that the moment you touched my lips, you had to draw away and refuse to look at me because apparently I'm so disgusting that I can't be kissed!" she snapped.

Cato stared at her strangely before starting forward. She stopped him with a hand to his chest, aware of what he was about to do.

"Don't. Don't kiss me just so that I stop throwing myself a pity party. That will make me feel even worse about myself." She said with a shake of her head.

"Shut up, Katniss." He growled before pulling her to him.

Their bodies melded together as he bent down and pressed his lips to hers. At first it was soft and gentle. Then he became more and more feverish until he had her backed up against the tree, kissing her passionately. Her body felt as though it were really on fire. Her mind went at a million miles an hour, wondering what the implications of this were. She stopped it cold, wanting for just a moment to stop worrying about the future.

Then, Katniss wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself enjoy the fleeting moment of soothing balance. Everything felt right. Everything was right.

**Author's Note: I know it wasn't long! Sorry! Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing! You are all so great and I love you! Keept up the good work and I'll try to keep up mine!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss watched in astonishment as Cato stomped back to the camp. All that went through her mind was, what the hell just happened?

"Are you kidding me?" she screamed at his retreating back.

He paused but didn't look back at her.

"Again? You pulled away again?" she shouted, knowing that she probably looked and sounded crazy but didn't care.

He turned and looked at her with confused eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I just don't know." He said.

"Well you had best figure it out! Because I am not the one going around kissing people and then walking away, ass. You are. So I would really like it if you would figure out what you 'don't know' and get back to me on that little bit of information." she hissed as she made to stomp past him.

His arm caught her hand and he yanked her back roughly, making her yelp.

"Do you really think it's that easy, Fire Girl?" he growled.

There he was, back to using her most annoying nickname.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, Muscle boy." She shot back.

"I have been raised my entire life knowing that I had to kill people like you! That I had to kill all of you until I was the last man standing! I was raised to know that my life literally depended on it! And now everything I've ever known is screwed up! The Capitol, the one thing I thought I could always depend on, is trying to kill me! I'm letting the people live that all of my instincts are constantly screaming at me to kill! In any situation I am looking for anything around me that can be used as a weapon or any way that I can snap someone's neck if they attack me!

Now add on the fact that you keep looking at me like I'm your savior and I'm getting all of these confusing, frustrating, hell even infuriating feelings! I hate it, Katniss! I hate feeling like this because I feel weak! The only people I have ever even had a semblance of something other than hate for are my family, my trainers and mentors, and Clove. Even then none of us will admit that we feel anything because it makes us look weak." He snapped harshly.

"Well why don't you go back to not feeling anything!" Katniss shot back as more of a suggestion than a question.

"I can't! Trust me, I've tried! If I could, I would!" he shouted, his hand tightening on her arm.

Katniss winced as pain radiated through her arm.

"You're hurting me." she whispered.

He yanked his arm back as if he'd been burned. Katniss took that chance to run back to the group. They were all sitting around the fire again and everything seemed to calm down a little. The only indication that there was any blowup was that Peeta and Gale were glaring at each other.

"What were you and Cato shouting about?" Glimmer asked.

"Oh… nothing." Katniss shrugged off before she walked and sat by Peeta.

"What?" he asked, sounding angry and a bit sad.

"What's going on with you, Peeta? You aren't acting like yourself." Katniss said.

"How do you know?" he demanded.

"Because the Peeta I know, the Peeta who saved my life by throwing me bread when I was so close to dying, he's a sweet person. He would never scream at anyone. He would strive to help anyone and to see the good in anyone. Where is that Peeta?" Katniss asked.

"The Games change people, everyone says it." Peeta said softly.

"Did you kill anyone, Peeta?" she asked.

He looked at her strangely.

"Of course not." He said, sounding vaguely disgusted.

"Then how did the Games change you?" Katniss asked.

"I… I saw them die. Young people. I watched as Clove slaughtered that boy that was with you. It was terrible. And I was a part of it. I helped the Careers find you and they killed a young boy for it." Peeta mumbled.

"That wasn't you, Peeta. If you hadn't done any of that, you would be dead by now. You didn't weild the blade that killed Imanol. You didn't do anything except survive. That's what you're expected to do, survive. For yourself, for your family, for everyone." she said softly.

"For you?" he asked.

Katniss felt her heart drop to her stomach. She knew that it would come up again. His declaration of love for her.

"Peeta I…" she trailed off.

"I know, you don't feel that way." he groaned.

Katniss cursed inwardly and let her head drop into her hands.

"I wish I could go back to before. When I didn't know that anyone even thought about me. When I was invisible." She said bitterly.

Peeta laughed humorlessly.

"You were never invisible, Katniss." He said, shaking his head as she looked up at him.

"Why not?" she demanded, knowing she sounded childish.

"You're a beautiful person, Katniss. Boys noticed. Gale, he thought so or he wouldn't have been so pissed when you volunteered." Peeta said.

"Gale and I were… are… just friends." she said with a shake of her head.

He scoffed quietly.

"You are… were… basically the most desirable girl in District 12." He said.

Katniss harrumphed and glared at the fire.

"Well I never asked for it." she said accusingly.

"I know." He shrugged.

She looked at him.

"Do you really like… or love… me?" she asked, her eyes begging for his honesty.

He bit his lip.

"I've always had a bit of a crush on you and I've always wondered what it would be like if you paid attention to me and we got together. I mean, of course all of that was squashed down when we were both sent to the games. Then Haymitch somehow read that I had a little crush on you and he came up with the plan. I wouldn't exactly be lying. I guess I also thought that if I admitted to my feelings that you would at least be hesitant to kill me." Peeta said, blushing as he looked down at the ground.

"I'm not going to lie, I came up with different situations, different ways to kill all of the tributes. But I left two tributes out. You and Rue. I never planned on killing you Peeta. So you didn't have to humiliate both of us." Katniss said bitterly.

"I didn't humiliate you! Haymitch said I was making you desirable." Peeta said.

"Haymitch is a miserable drunk, as much as I appreciate him. And yes, you made me desirable for sponsorship. But you also made me a target. That's why the Careers wanted you in their group, Peeta. They wanted me dead because they thought that I was weak." Katniss explained.

"And now? What do the Careers think about you?" Peeta asked.

Katniss flushed. As it turned out, people had been paying more attention to her and Cato than she thought. She decided to pretend that she had no idea what Peeta was alluding to. Her eyes scanned carefully around the group. Glimmer was talking animatedly to Rue about all of the luxuries she grew up around in District 1. Marvel was sharing sword and spear tips with Thresh. And Clove… she was glaring around at everyone. When her eyes met Katniss's, her glare disappeared and she almost looked interested.

"Indifferently?" she asked.

"No." Peeta said automatically.

"Glimmer and Marvel are protective of you. Especially after what happened… with your eye." He said, his eyes flashing to her bruised eye.

"You know I don't blame you?" Katniss said.

"Maybe you should." He shrugged.

"I lash out when I have nightmares too. One time I threw Prim's cat across the room." Katniss said with a grin.

Peeta cracked a smile and stared at Clove.

"I can't get a read on her. She isn't as hostile with you anymore." Katniss nodded, she'd noticed it too.

"And Cato…" she quickly averted her eyes.

Then she realized he hadn't come back from the woods.

"Cato." She whispered.

"Exactly." Peeta mumbled before he stood and walked to their pile of backpacks to pull out some food.

Katniss didn't pay attention, instead staring at the forest where Cato should have come out.

She jumped slightly when a figure sat next to her.

"Your eye?" Clove asked immediately.

"Better. Especially since you told me about the bottle of water." Katniss said, taken aback that Clove had specifically sat by her.

"That sucks that it happened to you." She said simply.

"Yeah." Katniss agreed.

Clove turned to meet her eyes.

"Are you afraid of him now?" she asked, her eyes looking at Peeta and then back at her.

"No, why would I be?" Katniss asked.

"Because he hit you." Clove said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"He didn't mean to. I know he didn't. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?" Katniss asked.

"You mean, the Careers?" Clove asked.

Now that Katniss thought about it, she realized that it was just the Careers (and Gale) that were freaking out about it.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

Clove laughed a little.

"You might be one of the most clueless girls I've ever met." She scoffed.

"Hey!" Katniss protested.

"Well you are! What has happened to the Careers that hasn't happened to anyone else in this group?" she demanded.

Katniss thought about it for a moment.

"They've been trained?" she asked.

Clove nodded slowly as if waiting for Katniss to realize something.

"What do you think happens in training, Fire Girl?" Clove questioned.

"They train you for the Hunger Games. Weapons and survival and stuff." Katniss shrugged.

"Well yeah, but first they have to teach you obedience. To District 2 and the Capitol. Why do you think that we're all so hesitant about all of this rebellion talk? Part of being a Career is obedience so that none of us go rogue. Because an army of Careers could end the Capitol forever." Clove said.

"I never thought about it that way." Katniss whispered.

Clove nodded.

"How do they… teach you?" she asked hesitantly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

Clove looked at her as if the answer should be clear. Then her eyes flickered to Katniss's eye. She gasped, her hand going to touch it.

"They… hit you?" she demanded, horrified.

Clove scoffed.

"Let's put it this way, Katniss. They beat us to a bloody pulp, give us a day to recuperate, then start the whole process over." She said plainly.

Katniss's hands went to her mouth and her eyes were wide. She'd always known that the Capitol was brutal. But she never once imagined that their precious Careers were forced to be loyal. She thought they were just born that way. Taught by their parents and elders from a young age.

"When do you start training?" she asked, knowing that this answer would make her even more disgusted.

"Five." Katniss bit her lip to keep from lashing out.

Her eyes darted around the circle. Marvel, Glimmer, Clove… all of them abused by their elders in the name of loyalty to the Capitol. At that moment, Cato walked through the trees with a carefully masked face. A flash of him lying on the ground with blood seeping from wounds and bruises all over his body went through her mind. Then it extended to the other Careers.

The Capitol were monsters, that much she knew before. Now, she was hellbent on destroying those monsters. They would pay for what they did to these people. To those children. To everyone.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think! I hope that I explained Clove's sudden willingness to stop fighting well. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing. Love you all! Review please!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss sighed quietly, turning over to her back. She stared up at the dark sky, cursing her body for not allowing her to sleep. When she turned over to her side, she saw two eyes staring back at her. They shone like bright orbs in the night. She remained still for a moment, just staring back at him. Then she silently stood and walked over to him. His eyes followed her the whole way. She stopped a few feet away and sat on the grass facing him.

"You can't sleep either?" she whispered.

Cato shook his head, not speaking. Katniss bit her lip and looked down at the ground, watching as her hands ripped up grass.

"It took you a while before you gave up on sleeping." He said in a low voice.

Katniss looked up at him in surprise.

"You noticed?" she asked.

He nodded before looking past her at the rest of the sleeping tributes and Gale.

"I don't know how they can do it. Sleep. After all that happened in the arena. All that we saw and… all that I did." he mumbled.

"You did it because you were trained to do it. You never knew anything different." Katniss murmured.

She scooted forward and reached for his hand. He yanked it back, staring at her hesitantly. His eyes were warning her not to cross that line again. Because if they crossed it, who knows if he could bring them back again. She stared at him and then moved forward more until their knees were almost touching. Then she reached for his hand again and grasped it in hers.

"It's not you who is the monster. You were the weapon that the Capitol used to kill innocent children. But you don't have to be that weapon anymore." Katniss whispered.

Cato stared at her and she broke their gaze, looking down at his hand that she held. Then she noticed the scars. There were many of them. Some on his hands, mostly his knuckles. Some on his arms traveling all the way up to his t-shirt sleeve. She was almost certain that they continued even under his clothing. Katniss began slowly running her fingers over the scars.

"Every time you think of your training and how you ought to kill any of us, look at your arms and your hands. Look at all of the scars you have and think about how they happened. Think of the ways in which the Capitol beat you and your fellow Careers into submission. Into thinking that they are right and that you need to be loyal to them. Think of how young you were when they put a weapon in your hand and told you to aim at mere children. Think of Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel and everyone else and how they had to live through it too. You're not alone, Cato. Just look down and that's all the reminder that you need to know who deserves to live and who deserves to die." She said.

Then she looked up to see Cato staring at her with wide eyes.

"You really mean that?" he asked, sounding shocked.

Katniss nodded slowly, unsure of what his reaction would be.

"Do I deserve to live?" he asked, sounding hesitant of her answer.

"Of course. Everyone deserves a chance. The fact is, the people in power, the ones who have molded you and Clove and the rest into their weapons, they've abused their chance. Because when you get a chance to live, you give everyone else the same chance. Or else you're just as bad as the people who force children into the Hunger Games." Katniss informed him.

Cato shook his head.

"But I took away…" Katniss silenced him with her hand over his mouth.

"You were trying to live. You were fighting for your chance to live. It was the Capitol who took away all of those tributes' chances to live. Not you. You were their weapon. Just like you would wield a sword, they wielded you. They shaped you into the perfect weapon. Now it's up to you, you've just gained your freedom and you get to decide what you want to do. You can do what you were initially taught and made to do. You can sit on a shelf and rust for the rest of your life. Or you can fight back. You can be good. Weapons can be used for good, not just evil. It's your choice, Cato. No one else is going to tell you what to do." Katniss said with a shake of her head.

Cato opened his mouth to say something but Katniss held up her hand.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered.

He listened. Then it became louder. The obvious hum of a hovercraft. Both of their eyes widened as they jumped up.

"The Capitol!" Katniss shrieked.

All of the other tributes jumped up. Katniss lunged for her father's bow and the combined arrows of her own and the ones from the arena. A few moments later, all of the tributes were joined together with weapons raised as their eyes searched the sky, waiting for the enemy to attack. Katniss stood between Rue and Glimmer. Cato was positioned behind her with Marvel and Thresh on either side of him. Peeta was on the other side of Glimmer and Clove on the other side of Rue.

"Seriously?" they all looked to see Gale sitting on the ground still, staring at them all with sleepy eyes.

"What?" Katniss hissed.

"I told you that I was being picked up here in the morning." He said with a roll of his eyes as he pointed to the trees.

The sun was barely beginning to rise over the tips of the leaves. Katniss turned and glared at him. They had a reason to be paranoid. All of the other tributes lowered their weapons but Katniss pointed hers at her target and let the string go.

"What the hell?" Gale demanded as he leapt to the side.

The arrow had buried in the ground inches from where his hand was reaching for his backpack.

"Don't act like we don't have good reason to be suspicious of everything." She snapped as she ripped the arrow out of the ground, cleaned it off on her shirt, and stuck it back in the quiver.

Then she retreated back to the group and they stood together, all looking up at the hovercraft with uncertainty. They were all ready just in case it wasn't the rebels. Katniss still trusted Gale and she knew that he wouldn't purposefully lead them into a trap. But she was still wary of the possibilities. The hovercraft finally got close enough to the ground for a ladder to drop out. Katniss squinted through the darkness so that she could see who climbed down the ladder.

As soon as he staggered and turned to face them, she knew exactly who it was.

"I see you did find survivors. Now you don't act all high and mighty now boy. You don't get to gloat about this to old, drunk…" He grumbled.

"Haymitch!" Katniss cried, stumbling forward.

He stopped suddenly and looked through the darkness. She slammed into him with her arms wrapped around him. She was happy to see him alive. She was happy to see anyone from District 12 alive.

"Sweetheart?" he mumbled.

Strangely enough, the smell of alcohol was not leaking from his skin, clothes, and hair. In fact, he smelled clean of all things. Katniss smiled as tears leaked from her eyes. His arms clumsily wrapped around her and he hugged her for a moment before pulling her away.

"How did you survive?" he demanded.

"I'll tell you later. For now, I think we need to get out of here. Can your hovercraft hold all of us?" she asked, gesturing back to the group.

Haymitch squinted at them.

"Course yeah. It's just me and the pilot in that hunk of metal." He said, shaking his head as they followed him to the hovercraft.

One by one they scaled the ladder. Katniss noticed that Cato waited until everyone else got on, even Gale, then he went up. He sat between Clove and Gaius. The hovercraft shook and rumbled as they lifted into the air.

"Now tell me." Haymitch demanded from next to her.

"First tell me my family is safe. And Peeta's. And everyone else's." Katniss shot back.

"Of course they're safe. Didn't he tell you?" Haymitch demanded.

"I just needed it confirmed by someone who knew for sure." She sighed with relief.

Rue reached over and squeezed her hand with a grin.

Katniss then launched into an explanation of how they ended up in District 12. By the end, Haymitch looked impressed and amused.

"So that's what has the Capitol all up in a tizzy." He said with a grin.

"No, I think that's the fact that you attacked them, interrupted the Hunger Games, and basically incited a rebellion." Cato said gruffly.

"You being a smartass? He been giving you trouble? Is that how you got that beauty of a black eye?" Haymitch demanded, gesturing to her eye.

"No… I…" her eyes flashed to Peeta's.

"We got attacked by the Peacemakers when they found us in District 12. It was just me and Ka… Fire Girl. I wasn't close but I got them off of her before they could do any real damage."

Everyone gaped at Cato. He was one of the people who was most angry with Peeta for hitting Katniss. Why did he lie for him?

"Well… damn. I can't be mad at you for saving our girl can I?" her mentor groaned.

"How far are we going?" Katniss asked, changing the subject from her eye.

"About an hour from here. Better sit back and relax. Because when we get there, you are going to have quite the interrogation. They are a little intense at District 13." Haymitch said as he sat back and closed his eyes.

Katniss looked around hesitantly before following his lead. She was exhausted and, at that moment, she felt safe enough to finally close her eyes and fall asleep.

**Author's Note: Review please! Please please please! Next chapter they land in District 13, Katniss gets a major surprise. A huge gamechanger. And there might be some more Cato/Katniss lovin' if you're awesome and review for me!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss jerked awake as the hovercraft suddenly dipped down. She looked around to see the other tributes in the same state as her, looking around sleepily. Gale and Haymitch were deep in conversation at the front of the hovercraft, both speaking in low tones.

"… didn't know how to explain. She's going to be angry." Gale said softly.

"You should have said something, boy. She's bound to be angry at everyone now." Haymitch growled.

"I think that I can deal with her anger. At some point she's bound to forgive us. I mean, it's not like it's a bad thing. It's just a surprising thing." Gale murmured.

Katniss couldn't put a hold on her curiosity anymore.

"What will I be angry about?" she asked loudly, alerting them to the fact that everyone was awake.

They both whirled around and looked at her guiltily.

"Who says we're talking about you?" Gale demanded.

"Yeah, we might be talking about Glitter." Haymitch said, gesturing to a scowling Glimmer.

"My name is Glimmer." She snapped.

"Close enough." Haymitch shrugged.

Katniss unbuckled her seatbelt and moved to stand in front of them.

"What aren't you telling me?" she said, glaring at the both of them.

"Nothing." They both said at the same time.

Katniss curled her hand into a fist, fighting the urge to punch both of them in their guilty faces.

"I'm bound to find out. And when I do, I'll kick both of your asses." She threatened, hoping to draw the truth out.

They just stared at her, presenting a united front in their stubbornness. She growled angrily and stomped back to her seat. Rue patted her hand comfortingly as they descended down. When the hovercraft opened, they all stood to see what exactly District 13 would look like. It looked exactly how Katniss imagined. A ghost town. Dust covered everything, including the brown sky. The ruins of buildings surrounded the area in front of them.

"Wow, this looks helpful." Clove mumbled under her breath from next to Katniss.

"Let's go." Haymitch grumbled, staggering off in the direction of a particularly demolished building.

"Where are we going?" Katniss asked as she caught up to him.

"That's the old courthouse. The first bomb was dropped on it and that bomb leveled the entire town square and the few streets surrounded it. It also holds the only entrance to the underground District 13 in the mountain behind it. They thought it made sense for it to be right behind the building." Haymitch said, pointing to the mountain standing behind the rubble.

They walked to the mountain and Haymitch knelt to the ground in front of a metal plate the size of a large bed.

"Dammit." He groaned.

"You forgot the code again?" Gale questioned.

"I was drunk when they told me!" he defended himself.

Gale groaned and knelt there, uncovering a keypad. He quickly typed in a code and a deep rumbling sounded. The tributes all staggered back as the ground began to dip down in front of Gale and Haymitch. They realized that it was forming a ramp that would take them down. Haymitch gestured to them to follow. Katniss got as far as the place where the brown dirt met the dirty silver metal.

"You ok?" Peeta asked, stopping next to her.

She looked down to see Gale staring up at her sympathetically. Other than her mother and sister, he was the only one who knew of her fear of underground or cramped places. In order to not look weak, she nodded her head quickly as she placed her foot on the metal. Katniss got about halfway down the ramp before her breathing quickened. The image of her dream, the one where she always told her father to run, played in her mind.

Her body began to quiver fearfully and her heart pounded heavily against her chest. She whimpered quietly as she heard a small rumble from inside of the metal structure. Then, when the ramp shifted a little, her legs gave up on carrying her, causing her to stumble to her knees. She pushed Peeta away as she began to hyperventilate. People surrounded her, calling her name loudly and trying to touch her. She refused their hands, shaking her head as a loud roaring began in her ears. She didn't know if it was really happening or if she was imagining it.

Katniss didn't notice that tears were running down her face until she felt one fall onto her hand. Then she began to try to wipe the traitor liquid away, not wanting everyone to see her so weak. Finally, two strong hands gripped her wrists and pulled them away from scrubbing furiously at her eyes. Cato's face swam into view, looking concerned and confused. She heard Gale explaining her reluctance for tight or underground spaces. Katniss let out a sob as her father's terrified face looked at her from her memories.

She launched onto her feet and ran out of the place, collapsing in the dirt. A few moments later, Cato was sitting next to her, comforting her. Finally, when she was able to get her tears under control, she looked at him.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Why are you so afraid?" he asked, waving off her apology.

"It's a long, complicated, personal story." Katniss whispered.

"I understand." He said immediately, sounding like he could sympathize with her situation.

She glanced behind her at the ramp.

"It won't collapse, right?" she asked with uncertainty.

"No, it looks and feels strong. And it's lasted for 74 years." Cato said.

Katniss nodded. That made sense; it had lasted for quite a long time. And it did survive a nuclear bomb attack. She slowly stood with Cato helping her up.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked.

"Well, someone had to make sure you were all right." he shrugged.

"No, I mean why you and no one else?" she asked, thinking it might have been Gale or Peeta or Rue or even Haymitch over Cato.

"They were all anxious to get to their families." Cato said.

"And you're not?" she asked as she walked forward, concentrating on him as they descended the ramp.

"I am." He said a little bit too quickly.

"So am I." she said with a slight smile, ignoring his awkward answer.

"I think that Haymitch said they're waiting for us. He radioed to the people in charge and told them that we're alive. Our families are waiting just inside to see us." He explained.

Katniss grinned. She was about to see Prim. Her precious sister.

"Who are you most excited to see?" she asked.

"My siblings." Cato said immediately.

Katniss was taken aback. She wasn't aware that Cato had any siblings.

"Younger or older?" she asked.

"Both. Older brother and a younger brother and sister." He explained.

"I just have a younger sister." She said.

"I know, you volunteered for her." he replied.

She nodded, thinking back on that day. It felt like so long ago when in reality it was only a few weeks ago. A few moments later, she could hear the sound of happy chatting from a few feet away. They rounded the corner to see the all of the remaining tributes chatting with people that looked similar to them. Katniss smiled, it was a happy day. They were all united with their families.

She caught sight of Gale standing next to a little person with blonde hair. Her heart leapt and she grinned widely. Then she stopped and looked at Cato.

"Go." he urged.

She smiled at him and then started forward. Her mother was standing just behind Prim with a dark haired man next to her, facing away from Katniss. When he turned after her mother said something, Katniss stopped short. Her heart felt like it stopped. She gasped loudly and it almost sounded like a cry of shock and pain. His eyes were so familiar. His skin was something she looked at every day. And his hair was thick and dark, just like hers. She was aware that everyone was looking at her and realized that her cry had been more like a scream.

She'd seen a ghost, she was sure of it. Because that face staring back at her, the face that she never thought she would see again, it was the face of her father.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry! I know that's a mean place to leave it. I also know that I promised some Cato/Katniss lovin'. In the interest of a good cliffhanger, I've decided to postpone it until next chapter. Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss couldn't take her eyes off of him. It felt like the entire world had frozen. Then suddenly her mind clicked on and she felt nothing but anger. She whirled around and her eyes sought out the two people who would certainly know about this. Before she knew it, she let out a scream of fury and was running at Gale.

"You bastard!" she shouted before she shoved him to the ground and started hitting him wherever she could.

She heard shouts of surprise around her but ignored them.

"You knew how I felt when he died! You knew about everything! You were the only one who did! You should have told me about it from the moment you saw me you fucking asshole!" she shouted as her hands made contact with his face.

She was finally pulled off of Gale, satisfied that he had bruises blossoming from more than one wound. It was then that she felt her vision start to go black. Her exhausted was catching up with her as well as the shock of seeing her father actually alive. He was alive. And Katniss couldn't have been angrier. As she stumbled backward, she felt two familiar arms catch her. It seemed like Cato had been catching her a lot since the start of the Hunger Games. She turned and looked up at him.

"Get me out of here." She whispered pleadingly.

A few moments later, she was pulled up into Cato's arms and he carried her away bridal style.

"Get back." she heard him growl at someone.

"I am not going to let you…" Haymitch was cut off by a grunt and Cato kept walking.

"Did you hit him?" Katniss mumbled from where her face was buried in his chest.

She sighed with relief when the open outside air hit her.

"No, Marvel and Peeta held him back." Cato said softly as he sat her down on a boulder and looked into her eyes.

"Why were you so upset with that Gale guy?" he asked.

She bit her lip and held back the tears that threatened to fall. It didn't work as a few trailed down her cheeks.

"My dad. A few years ago, we were told that he died in a mine explosion. We felt it and everything. I was so close to him. He's the one who taught me how to handle a bow. When he died I was devastated. Gale's dad 'died' in the explosion too. That is partly how we connected. When I walked down into that bunker, I saw my dad standing by my mom like nothing ever happened. Like it hadn't been five years since he left me. He left me alone with Prim and mom. He abandoned us. There is no excuse. Nothing he could say to make the miserable past five years go away." She whimpered.

The tears were full on streaming down her face by that time. She buried her head in her hands and began to sob. Her body shifted closer to Cato's warmth when she felt his hand rubbing her back comfortingly. She lifted her eyes and looked at him.

"I'm sorry I'm keeping you from your family." She cried.

"It's ok. I can see them anytime. You need someone right now." He said softly.

Katniss didn't know what was happening. Everything was so different from what she ever thought it was. Peeta had feelings for her. Gale had changed so much. District 13 still existed. Her father was still alive. All of the careers were nothing like she thought. Glimmer, Marvel… even Clove was being incredibly nice to her. And Cato… he was the most surprising of them all. From her pre-Games point of view, he was a killing machine who she could never even get along with. Now he was the only person she could even imagine being around other than her new friends.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked softly.

He looked confused for a moment. Then his face became unreadable again. Her hand shot out and touched his cheek.

"Don't do that. I don't like it when you hide." She mumbled, not really aware of what she was saying.

Then she fell on her knees in front of him where he was kneeling.

"Don't leave me." she said suddenly, her eyes widening.

"What?" he asked, his eyes wide as well.

"People leave me. My dad, my mom, Gale… please don't leave me." Katniss begged.

Before he could answer, she launched forward and pressed her lips to his. He was frozen for a moment before he responded. Their lips moved together passionately and before Katniss knew it, he pulled her up onto his lap and she was straddling his thighs as his hands explored her back. Her fingers knotted into his hair, somewhere in the back of her mind remarking on how soft it was. He pulled away after a moment and they stared at each other.

"We should get back." he murmured.

She nodded and slowly stood up, stepping away from him as he stood as well. He gestured for her to go first. Katniss got a few steps away before she turned to look at him. Then she saw that he wasn't hiding from her. His emotions were out there plain to see and, for once, she knew exactly what they were. Confusion, want, need, desire, conflict. Everything that she was feeling.

"Are you going to pull away?" she asked.

He stared at her for a moment before bending down and capturing her in a kiss again. This time he lifted her a full six inches off the ground as her arms encircled his neck.

"Not pulling away." He whispered as they broke apart.

"I can see that." she murmured back.

"We should get to our families." He said.

A pang in her chest made her grimace as she thought about the situation she was about to have to deal with.

"Just go see your little sister. She'll make everything better." He said with a slight smile.

Katniss smiled too as she thought about Prim.

"You're right." she agreed as he set her back on the ground.

Before she could walk away, his hand captured hers and they walked back to the bunker hand in hand with slight smiles and their eyes only on each other.

When they arrived back at the group, everyone looked at Katniss hesitantly. Her and Cato had let go of each other's hands moments before they walked up to the group so she immediately ran through the crowd and swooped her little sister into a tight hug. Prim squealed happily and hugged her back. Katniss squeezed her eyes shut as if she could block out everyone around her.

"I missed you!" Prim exclaimed, her tears falling on Katniss' shoulder.

"I missed you too, Little Duck." She whispered as her own tears fell on Prim's cheek.

Prim pulled away and her eyes inspected Katniss.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, Prim. Don't worry about it." Katniss said with a smile, stroking her little sister's cheek.

Prim's smile faded and her eyes looked past Katniss and the older sister knew that she was looking at the one thing that Katniss was trying to avoid.

"He is very excited to see you." She whispered.

Katniss grimaced and stared past her little sister at the rest of the Careers and their families. They all looked thrilled. They all had both parents surrounding them. She couldn't see Cato but she was sure that even he had both parents and that they were both very excited to see their children alive. Katniss closed her eyes and stood slowly before turning around. Her eyes narrowed when she saw her father's arm slung over her mother's shoulders. Prim's small hand slipped into hers and she pulled her forward. Katniss stumbled along and ended up about a foot and a half away. She had no idea what to say. A million times she imagined what she would say if her father turned up and said that they had lied when they told them that he was dead.

But she always knew somewhere in her mind that it would never happened. Now that it had, she had no idea what to say.

"Hi." Was all he said.

It appeared he had less of an idea what to say. She chose to simply glare at him.

"Remember what I said sweetheart? People respond better when you don't scowl at them." Haymitch said from the side.

"How about if I stab them through the heart with a knife?" she growled, her hand going instantly to the knife still stuck in her belt.

"Katniss." Her mother admonished, a reproving look on her face.

She immediately noticed the changes in her mother. Her eyes were sparkling again. She looked less gaunt and her hair was shining. She was happy and it was all thanks to the reappearance of her father.

"You're supposed to be dead." She spat at him, saying the first thing that came to her mind as she looked upon him once more.

"Catnip…" she heard Gale step up beside her and flinched away from him.

"No! He's supposed to be dead! He left us! He abandoned us! We starved! We were starving for months! We almost died!" she felt her feet carrying her forward to her father as tears filled her already cried out eyes.

"We were devastated! You left us and we were alone! I was alone! How was I supposed to go on without you? I had to support them! Did Mom tell you what happened to her? She left us too! She retreated inside herself! She was so depressed that she forgot how to carry on and abandoned us too! I was only eleven-years-old and I was forced to provide for my six-year-old little sister and my mother! If it weren't for him…"

Katniss thrusted her finger at Peeta, who was standing with his family looking at the scene with sad eyes.

"… we would be dead! He saved our lives! I kept us alive after that! You did nothing! You left us without any explanation as to why! I was all alone!" Katniss ended her screaming rant inches away from her father.

"Prim got reaped. Did you watch that? Do you have televisions in this godforsaken place? Did you see me volunteer for her? It would have been my death sentence if these people hadn't chosen to end the Hunger Games! To stop the killing!" Katniss cried.

"Katniss." His hands shot out and touched her upper arms.

"No!" she shouted, trying to struggle away from him.

He felt so warm and he still smelled the same as what she was used to. Her entire body screamed at her to get as close to her father as she could. Because as much as she hated him, she loved him too.

"I saw it! I saw you reaped and I knew that I had to stop it before you died! I had to stop it." she looked up to see tears running down his face too.

"I got your mother and sister out of District 12. I fought to get all of the families of the tributes out of their districts because I knew how they felt. Then I begged and pleaded with the leader of District 13 to launch an attack on the Capitol before the Games went on anymore. I did fight for you, my precious daughter." He said.

Katniss let out a whimper and shook her head.

"What?" he asked softly.

"I've had to be so strong. For Prim and for mom. I had to assure them that I was coming home from the Games when I wasn't even close to sure that I would survive past the first ten minutes." She whispered.

"You don't have to be strong anymore, Katniss. I'm here for you, sweetheart. I love you and I'm never leaving you again." He said.

Katniss let out a wail and launched into his arms, inhaling his scent and wrapping her arms around his torso. His arms wrapped around her too and she felt something she hadn't felt since that fateful day when the news of the mine explosion reached them. She felt safe.

**Author's Note: Just to let you know, I picture Kyle Chandler as Katniss' dad if you want to look him up. He's a fantastic actor and I think he looks right. Also, I'm updating because I just discovered that I do have internet here. Review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss stood a few feet away from the two people who wished beyond hope that she could trust. But she just knew that she couldn't. How was she supposed to? As she listed all of the reasons for why she couldn't put her faith in them again, she thought back on the events of the last two hours.

_She felt her heart clenching with panic as they walked through the bunker. Gale was leading, showing everyone around the underground bunker. So far, they saw the two big cafeterias where all three meals would be served if the people didn't want to cook in their own dwellings. There was a market for everyone to get foods. It was rationed so that the people wouldn't have to buy it. Then he showed them the fields where the vegetables, fruits, and livestock all remained. By the time they reached the residences, Katniss was completely lost. The bunker was huge._

_Prim immediately tried to drag Katniss away to their own place to call home. As much as she wanted to follow her sister, she resisted. When she turned to look at all of the tributes, they were staring back at her. Saffra, Briar, and Gaius, the three she hadn't gotten to know much. Thresh, who didn't talk much except to Rue. Rue, who was so small. She had many brothers and sisters, all who looked almost exactly like her. Glimmer, whose parents and little brother were just as blatantly attractive as her. Marvel, his parents looked sneaky and sarcastic as well but still content with the fact that their son was home. Clove's family simply looked relieved._

_Peeta's family, except his mother, looked very happy to have him back. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mellark looked bored, which saddened Katniss. She would have to make sure that Peeta didn't forget that not everyone regarded him the same as his mother did. That he did have people who cared for him even if Katniss didn't love him the same way he loved her. Then she caught sight of Cato. It wasn't hard since he was the tallest one there. Two little blonde kids were wrapped around his legs gazing up at him adoringly. That made Katniss smile slightly. _

_A man who was slightly shorter than Cato but obviously older was standing a little behind him with a little baby in his arms sleeping soundly. A brunette woman had her arms wrapped around him and the baby. Katniss assumed that was his older brother. Then a older woman with platinum blonde hair had her hand on Cato's shoulder. She was smiling widely, obviously thrilled to have her son home safe. But the blonde man standing a few feet away looked less than thrilled. In fact, he was glaring around at everyone as if he'd rather be anywhere but there. In that moment, she figured out why Cato acted strange when she asked him if he was happy to see his family._

"_Katniss?" Prim asked._

_She turned to face her sister, smiling slightly before looking back. Everyone nodded at her and she bit her lip. Part of her didn't want to leave them. They'd spent the last few days keeping each other safe. That instinct didn't just go away because they were supposedly safe in a district that wasn't even supposed to exist._

"_Let's go, Prim." She sighed; taking her sister's hand and allowing her to pull her away._

_She heard her parents following them, murmuring amongst themselves. When they reached a door marked **Everdeen**. Prim bounced impatiently on her toes while their father unlocked the door with a key on his belt. Then she launched into the room, dragging Katniss behind her. Her little sister was like a tornado, whirling from room to room of the small apartment with Katniss following with a demure smile on her face. She wasn't afraid to admit that she missed Prim's eager and loving attitude._

_When they were done with the tour, Katniss's mother reminded Prim that her sister was probably exhausted from everything and Prim yanked Katniss over to a bed to sleep. Katniss would have none of that. She had too many questions. So she asked Prim to get her something to eat from the cafeteria and Prim skipped away eagerly. Then she sat her parents down in front of her and stared at them as she paced the small living room._

That brought her back to the present, back to looking at her parents with so many questions in her mind.

"Why did you fake your death?" she demanded of her father.

"Katniss, I thought we were all past this." Her mother sighed.

"No, you don't get to expect that. You don't get to expect me to just get over all of this when something this big is just dropped on me. Especially with what I've been through in the past five years. Hell in the past five days." Katniss spat.

Her father laid a comforting hand on her mother's leg.

"It's all right for her to have questions." he said quietly before looking at her expectantly.

"Why did you fake your death?" she repeated.

"I didn't…" he was cut off by her answering scoff.

"Well you sure as hell did something." She snapped.

"Katniss, don't curse." Mrs. Everdeen admonished quietly.

She didn't even acknowledge her mother's scolding remark.

"District 13 did. They needed an army. They needed strong men. Apparently the mineworkers of District 12 were strong enough. As were the weapon makers from District 2. Engineers from District 3. Power workers from District 5. Lumber workers from District 7. Agriculture workers from District 11. Men were taken from all of those districts on the same day for one reason. To build an army and to help District 13 flourish." Her father said.

"And you were all right with that? You were ok with just abandoning your family for these rebels?" Katniss asked.

"Of course not. I fought for weeks, months. I tried to get out but they outsmarted me. They outsmarted all of us. They told us that if we left, we would be as good as dead. That if we showed up in our districts when we were supposed to be dead, the Capitol would know that we'd been in contact with the rebels and they would kill us." He explained.

Katniss looked at the ground. It made sense. Everything he was saying made sense. District 13 did the perfect thing. They used the Capitol's own people against them. Used the designated jobs they gave to each District to help themselves flourish. Then they made sure the men stayed by telling them the Capitol would kill them. It was true, the Capitol would have killed them. She looked up.

"If Prim hadn't been reaped… if I hadn't volunteered… if none of this had happened, would you have ever told us you were alive?" she murmured.

He hesitated.

"I was keeping you safe…" he began.

"That's not what I asked." she said in a low voice, staring him down.

"Katniss…" he sighed, running his fingers through his thick hair that was the exact same color as hers.

Katniss laughed humorlessly, feeling her anger surge once again.

"You would have never told us! Under the pretense of 'keeping us safe'! Why didn't they just bring your families here? It seems like they had plenty of room!" she yelled.

"Because the Capitol would have hunted us down. A few dozen men missing, that didn't matter to them. But to take their families… that would take almost a hundred people away and the citizens of Panem would have noticed if that many families disappeared. They would begin to question everything and the

Capitol would have brought the war to us before we were ready." He said, his eyes begging for her to understand.

"And if I died in the bloodbath? If I was dead right now? If Prim died of starvation five years ago? Would your precious rebellion have been worth it? Worth the lives of your daughters?" she demanded.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, horrified at the thought.

Katniss shook her head and stumbled back, sitting in a wooden chair.

"And you?" she asked, looking at her mother.

"You're just fine with all of this? You don't care about anything? That he abandoned us? That we almost died? That he caused you to abandon your own daughters out of depression for his 'death'?" she asked.

"Katniss, I chose to forgive him because I love him. That's what family does." Her mother said.

"That's not what I do. Not for people who betray me so deeply." She said, shaking her head once more as she stood up slowly.

"I love you, dad. But I don't see how I will never trust you again." Katniss mumbled.

"Just give me a chance." He pleaded, reaching out to her.

"No." she said, pulling away from him.

"You have no idea how much pain I've suffered since you left me. That doesn't just go away because you show up in my life again. I had to live every single year just waiting for my name to be drawn out of that glass bowl. I had to summon up the courage to tell my sister that everything would be all right when I was just as scared as she was just a few days ago. I had to be brave enough to volunteer for my sister and sign my death warrant. You weren't there for any of that." she said softly before she turned and ran out of the apartment.

She ran through the winding halls expecting to have to hold back tears. They didn't come. Apparently, she was finally all cried out. That was just fine with Katniss. She was tired of everyone seeing her at her weakest. It was time that she showed everyone just how strong she could be. As she came to a rest near the workout area that they'd been showed, she heard rustling behind her. She quickly whirled around and got in a defensive stance before she saw who it was. Then she relaxed and sighed.

"We need to talk." He said.

"Yeah." She agreed.

**Author's Note: Review please! Pretty please! If you do, I might give you a chapter from Cato's point of view! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss followed Gale carefully, avoiding the eyes of every person who was gawking at her. She couldn't tell the difference between people who might have been part of District 13 from the beginning or people who were evacuated recently. Every once in a while she would see someone from District 12 wave happily at her. She would simply wave back with a smile, trying to pretend like everything was just fine in her life. More than a few concerned glances were thrown her way and she knew that they knew about her outburst at her father.

"Gale… your dad…" she trailed off.

He shook his head.

"Wait until we stop." He said softly.

They walked for another fifteen minutes until he opened a mysterious looking door.

"What's in there?" Katniss asked suspiciously.

"Trust me? Like you used to?" he asked with pleading eyes.

She hesitated but continued into the door. She gasped at what she saw. It was a forest. Inside. She could hear birds singing and the roof of the room was made to look like a normal sky.

"This is amazing." She gasped.

"The engineers set this up. It was for the stress management and also survival skills of the soldiers that they trained." Gale said as they walked into it.

Katniss reached out and touched the trees to find that they felt authentic.

"Wow." She said simply.

Gale pulled her over to a tree and sat against it. She sat across from him with her legs crossed.

"My dad is alive too." He said, looking down at his hands.

Katniss paused, not exactly sure what to say. She knew that he felt as betrayed as she did. He was very heavily affected by his father's so-called death.

"Why didn't you tell me, Gale? You knew that I would find out and that I would know you kept it from me. You knew that I would want to know." She said sadly.

"I knew exactly who you would feel and how you would react. I knew because that's how I reacted. I was so angry. I destroyed the entire living room of our apartment. We had to move out for a day so that they could fix it. I was angry at your father too. I came across your mother assuring him that you wouldn't be angry but I had to set the record straight. I told him not to expect a warm greeting from you." Gale mumbled.

Katniss sighed. He knew her well. It could be argued that he knew her better than anyone. Five years ago, that would have been her father. But he didn't know a single thing about Katniss anymore. She was so different. She wasn't naïve anymore. She was a hardened, stubborn fighter. She fought for her live, her sister's life, and the lives of so many others. Her father didn't know that girl. He knew the happy young girl who sang with him and danced with him.

"I was angry. I still am angry. But I know that I really don't have any right to be angry with you about this. It's not fair because if it had been me, I wouldn't have known how to bring it up to you. Hey your dad who has been presumed dead for five years is alive now. Good luck with that." Katniss sighed.

Gale's face broke into a grin.

"Does that mean you forgive me, Catnip?" he asked.

"I need to, Gale. I really didn't want to before but I do need to. I am taking up so much of my emotional limit just when it comes to my father right now. I can't deal with being angry at my best friend too." She murmured.

"I know." He said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"Thank you for getting my family out safe, Gale. I really appreciate it. I recognize that you took great care of Prim." She said, squeezing his hand while she smiled warmly at him.

His smile suddenly faded.

"What's going on with you and that Cato guy?" he asked, pulling his hand away.

Katniss' mind went blank. What was going on with them? It wasn't as though she was about to share each and every moment of their time together with him.

"I don't know. We're talking and stuff." She shrugged.

"It seems like more than talking to me. He's like your anchor or something. Whatever is still holding you to this insane place." Gale said.

"It's not like that. You know that no one is as important to me as Prim. She is what is holding me here. She is what is keeping me from screaming at whatever idiotic politician is running this place." Katniss sighed.

"Don't get off subject, Katniss. You know that guy is dangerous. He was a Career tribute. He has been raised to kill people just like all of the other brutal Victors of District 2." He said, giving her a disapproving look.

"Cato isn't like that. He doesn't want to be a killer. I think that he wants to be good." Katniss argued for his sake.

"Are you sure about that, Catnip? What do you really know about this guy? What's his last name? What are his siblings' names? What is his favorite food?" Gale asked.

"We haven't had much time to talk about stuff like that." Katniss said defensively.

"Face it, you know nothing about this guy. And this situation, your situation, is too fragile to put your trust in the wrong person." He reminded her.

"I'm not putting my trust in anyone. And even if I were, what makes you think that Cato is the wrong person?" Katniss demanded.

"He was raised to be the Capitol's lapdog. You are the face of the rebellion. Those two don't go together. District 2 has always been on the Capitol's side. You can't trust anyone from that place!" Gale exclaimed.

"You can't put all of District 2 into one pile. There can be people there who don't believe the same things." she said.

"I don't want to fight, Catnip. But if you put all of your trust in this guy and he ends up betraying you to the Capitol, do you think they'll be nice to you? To Prim and your mom and your dad? To all of the people who you saved from death by Hunger Games? No. They will torture and kill all of them. I'm not saying to throw the guy to the sidelines. I'm saying to be careful. Watch your back, Katniss. You've always been good at that. Don't let your guard down just because a handsome guy throws a few smiles your way." Gale said softly, reaching for her hand.

"Are you calling me a lovestruck hussy or something?" she said icily.

"You know that's not what I'm saying, Katniss. I care for you and I don't want to see you or anyone you love hurt." He said.

Katniss sighed and bit her lip. As much as she hated to admit it, Gale was right. She did need to be careful with who she associated. Especially at that crucial time. Everything and everyone in her life was in danger. She needed to keep him safe. But no matter what he said, she didn't intend to sweep Cato under the rug. There was too much there. Too much of what, she wasn't sure. But she intended to learn more about Cato and find out. But if he was in any way dishonest with her, she had to protect her friends and family. She just had to. No matter what she was feeling towards him.

* * *

**Cato POV**

Confusion. It had been a while since Cato felt that. For his entire life, his goal had been clear. Win the Hunger Games at all costs. Don't make friends. Don't develop feelings for anyone, whether it was like, love, or hate. Stay unemotional and when you did feel emotions, keep them hidden. No one needed to see that because they were your weakness. But now, so many things were trying to pull his emotions out. He was reunited with my family when he'd come to terms with the fact that there was a chance that he might not come home. Then he was sure that the Capitol would find them and kill them. Then he thought of the chance that the District 13 people might have killed his family and planned on killing him simply for the fact that they were from District 2 and that his father was… well… his father.

He'd actually worked at saving the rest of the tributes instead of killing them like he was supposed to. He could just imagine his mentors' reaction to that. Brutus would be angry probably, yelling about honor and disrespect to the Academy where he was taught. Enobaria would probably flash her fearsome smile at him and call him weak for developing a need to protect children. He assumed he would find out soon enough since that Haymitch guy told him that all of the escorts were at District 13, having been evacuated right as the Hunger Games began so that the Capitol wouldn't kill them for the rebellions.

Cato loved his siblings. They were really the only ones he would show emotions to. Even his kind, loving mother didn't get a lot out of him. His older brother, Crucis, was the most supportive person in his life. He'd gone through the Academy as well. He was actually chosen to volunteer in his last year of eligibility. Then, in the week before the reaping, a jealous rival at the Academy threw him off of an obstacle course. He ended up breaking his back and getting taken to the Capitol for a surgery to fix him. He'd recovered completely but by the time he did, the Hunger Games were far over. Cato knew that he was relieved. He was only ten at the time but knew that his big brother was still, somewhere deep inside, terrified of the Hunger Games. He met Ivory, his wife, at the District 2 hospital, where he had to go back every few months to make sure his back was still all right.

She was a nurse at the hospital. A year later, they were married. That was also the year that Cato became eligible for the Hunger Games. Two years ago, they announced that they were having a child. Nine months later, Cato became an uncle to Laurel Selkirke, a beautiful little baby girl. Of course, he hadn't seen her since the day she was born. He'd been practically living at the training center after he was voted to volunteer in the next games.

Then there were his two younger siblings. Catri was his younger sister. She was seven-years-old and a little spitfire. She was the smartest little girl he knew, able to hold a steady argument with a person over twenty years her senior. Then there was Ceporis, his sweet little five-year-old brother. Cato had to really stand up to his father to prevent him from sending them into the Academy. He argued that he was going into the Hunger Games and he was far too menacing for anyone to chuck off of an obstacle course. His father would have his Victor and he wouldn't have to sacrifice the childhoods of Cato's two younger siblings to get anymore. That was why he had to win. Not for the glory, not for the riches or the infamy. But to protect his siblings.

So when he saw the reapings on the train when they went to the Capitol, he saw the same thing in the eyes of the girl from District 12. She would do anything to protect her younger sister. He'd felt a connection to her but he, as he was taught, tucked that away and turned his attitude into a cold indifference. Now, he didn't know what to do. She'd immediately called his bluff, seeing that he was hiding away his emotions. She told him not to and he felt no other path other than to obey her demands. She was commanding in a way he respected. He wanted to do what she said and that was a first for him. Everything she said was right. He was a natural leader. He was used to slipping into a leadership role.

But Katniss was beautiful. She had a fire in her that he wanted to be consumed by. The only time he felt himself angered during the pre-games ceremonies was when the boy from District 12 tried to lay a claim on her in the interviews. He remembered thinking that the pale boy didn't deserve her. He would never be able to keep up with her. She was a hurtling fireball and bread boy was a stagnant rock. Cato knew that, given the chance, he could keep up with her. But then he knew he would never be able to so he filed that away and focused on how he would kill this girl. He would have to, of course. He would have to put out her beautiful flame so that Catri and Ceporis would never know the brutality of the Academy.

Now everything changed. He had a chance to be consumed by her and he wasn't sure why he wasn't jumping at the chance. Part of him was convinced that his siblings were still in danger. The dangerous look in his father's eye when they greeted him at the entrance to the bunker was unmistakable. He regarded Cato as a failure. He was worse than Crucis because Cato wasn't unfairly taken out of the games. He made it there. He could have easily been the Capitol's Victor. But he gave up and instead protected the people he was meant to kill. The look in his eye had Cato wondering if he made the wrong decision. But then, when Katniss turned around and looked back at him before her excited little sister dragged her off, it assured him that he made the right decision. Even if Katniss didn't choose to consume him, even if they never spoke again, he had the satisfaction of knowing that her fire would burn on. And if the world was lucky, it would consume everything in its path.

**Author's Note: I know that wasn't much from Cato. I'll give you more later. Maybe with a little more interaction with Katniss and a little more of the conflict going on in Cato's head. Because trust me I haven't even chipped the surface of what I have planned for Cato. I hope that the talk with Gale redeemed him a little. Review please! Please please please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

She was lost. After her talk with Gale, she'd told him she wanted a moment alone. It had been a while since she'd just been completely alone. Of course, as she walked through the bunker there were still people surrounding her. They left her alone for the most part. But now she wasn't surrounded by anyone. The halls were dark and she had no idea where she was going. This was a part of the bunker that she hadn't been shown. There were no doors or anything. It was just a long, never ending hall with no escape. When she heard heavy footfalls behind her, she panicked. Her knife was still in her belt but she wasn't good at using it as a weapon.

She placed her hand on it and whirled around. A scream escaped from her mouth when a hulking figure came out of the shadows.

"I saw you coming here." Thresh said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Katniss sighed with relief and let go of the knife, nodding at him.

"Do you have any idea how to get out?" she asked.

He nodded and gestured for her to follow him.

"How is your family?" she asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Good. They are glad that I am alive. They are very grateful to you for getting us out of the arena." He replied.

"It wasn't just me. It was everyone." Katniss said, uncomfortable with getting all of the credit.

"Rue's family is also grateful. I told them that you took her under your wing and protected her. They are going to want to thank you at some point. I think that everyone wants to thank you." Thresh said.

Katniss flushed, embarrassed.

"Cato is good, I think." She looked at Thresh with wide eyes.

"Wh.. What?" she stammered.

"I think that he is better than everyone thinks he is. Including your friend, Gale." He said.

Katniss stopped and stared at him. He turned around to look at her with a confused look.

"He protected Rue too. And he took her on his back when she was tired. He is good." Thresh acknowledged.

"I can trust him?" Katniss asked.

"You need people to trust. I think that he has proved his worth. He could have easily killed all of us as we slept. He did not. He wants to be trusted and I think that is why you should trust him." he said.

"And what about the fact that he's grown up under the Capitol's influence. I shouldn't be worried about him leading them to the rebellion?" she asked.

"You gave him a long speech about how the Capitol couldn't control him and about how evil they were for what they did to them. You cannot tell him that and then not give him a chance to show that he can break from the Capitol and their teachings." Thresh said simply.

Katniss didn't know what to say. He was right. It was unfair for her not to give Cato at least one chance to prove that he could be anything other than the Capitol's weapon.

"You're right." she mumbled.

Thresh smiled slightly.

"You should talk more. You say smart things." Katniss said with a small smile.

"If I talk more, I might stop saying smart things. I prefer to keep most things to myself." Thresh said.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the populated part of the bunker.

"Thank you, Thresh." Katniss said before she kissed his cheek and ran off.

* * *

When she reached the apartment, she sighed and opened the door. Prim was sitting at the table with her father.

"Where's Mom?" she asked immediately.

"She's lying down. She is very tired." Prim said, her eyes lighting up when she saw Katniss.

Katniss gulped guiltily when she saw the food that she sent Prim to get for her sitting on the kitchen counter. But she was more tired than she was hungry. She needed to sleep. She stumbled to the couch and laid down on it.

"You have your own bed." Prim argued.

"I'll sleep here." She mumbled before she closed her eyes and slipped eagerly into the peaceful darkness.

_When she opened her eyes, she couldn't move. She was sitting in a chair and her hands and feet were tied down. The room around her was bright white._

"_Hello Katniss." The wall moved to reveal President Snow standing there._

"_Why am I here?" she demanded._

"_You are going to tell us where the rebels are hiding." He said simply._

"_No." Katniss said, shaking her head._

"_I think you will. It might take a little convincing on our part, but you will tell us." He said before he pressed a button on the wall._

_Suddenly three tracker jackers flowed into the room._

"_No!" she screamed as they started to sting her._

_After a few times, they all dropped to the floor dead and she looked up at see the President grinning at her. Then his face melted into her father's face._

"_Are you going to tell them where we are, Katniss?" he asked, glaring at her._

_She shook her head._

"_Are you sure? Because I can see you weakening. I think you'll tell them. Then they will kill everyone. They'll put Prim in the Hunger Games with all of the other children and force them to fight. They'll publicly execute all of the tributes that you saved. Everyone will die and it will be all your fault."_

_His face turned into Prim's._

"_All your fault." She repeated._

_Then it changed into Thresh, Rue, Glimmer, Marvel, her mother, Gale, Peeta, Clove. All of them said the same thing. It would be her fault. Then it turned into Cato and President Snow appeared behind him._

"_Don't tell them Katniss." He said just before Snow slit his throat with a knife._

_He dropped to the floor as Katniss screamed and Snow laughed eagerly._

_Then she was looking down at Cato's body and the knife was in her hand, dripping blood. His body morphed all the way back through everyone that it previously changed into until it was Snow again._

"_Katniss!" several voices shouted._

_She turned to the room to see everyone in there being attacked by hundreds of tracker jackers._

"_No!" she screamed, slamming her hand down on the button._

_All that did was multiply the number of bugs in there. She watched as they all collapsed one by one, sobbing her eyes out._

Katniss jerked awake to screaming. It frightened her. When a hand touched her arm, she realized it was her screaming and she stopped immediately, looking around wildly. Prim was sitting there with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine." Katniss said, not wanting her sister to worry too much.

"You had a nightmare." Prim said simply, handing her a glass of cold water.

She sat up and drank from it slowly. when she turned to look at the table, she saw her mother and father sitting there with another very familiar person.

"Cinna!" she exclaimed, jumping up and setting the glass down on the couch before running over.

He was on his feet and embracing her almost immediately. She sighed with relief. His very presence seemed to take a big burden off of her shoulders.

"I told you, I was betting on you." He whispered.

"No one won, Cinna." Katniss mumbled.

"You did, Katniss. In your own way, you won. Because you managed to get out of that arena without killing a single person. You didn't have to change anything about yourself." He said, pulling away and smiling at her.

She smiled back, feeling comforted by his very words.

"Not that I mind, but why are you hanging out here?" she asked, ushering him to the couch to speak with him.

"In the rush of getting out of your District, your mother and sister didn't have enough time to grab any of your clothes. I brought some by so that you wouldn't have to walk around the bunker naked." Cinna said.

Katniss shook her head.

"It certainly would give everyone a show. You want the Girl on Fire, bam!" she said, laughing with him.

"It would. I don't know that everyone would appreciate it quite as much as some." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"What is that supposed to mean? You know that Peeta and I aren't…" she trailed off.

"No I'm talking about another blonde boy." He said slyly.

Katniss gaped at him. Did everyone know about what was going on with her and Cato.

"Oh shut up. Where are my clothes? I want to take a shower and change." She said, standing up.

"I'll take you. It's nice to meet you, Cinna." Prim said before taking Katniss' hand.

"I'll see you later." She said with a parting wave.

Prim pulled her over to the closet and gestured at the clothes.

"They are all yours. And I've been instructed not to let you wear the workout clothes unless you are actually going to work out." Prim said triumphantly.

Katniss sighed and glared back in Cinna's direction. How was it that everyone seemed to know what was going through her head lately?

"Pick something for me, Little Duck. I'll go take a shower and then come out to put it on." Katniss sighed, walking to the bathroom.

The showers weren't quite so complicated as the Capitol showers but they were still pretty fancy. She wondered how District 13 had managed such amenities until she remembered that they had the engineers here. She finally decided on a light raspberry and vanilla smell as well as warm water. Katniss remained in the shower for a while, scrubbing all of the dirt and grime off of her body and out of her hair. When she finally felt clean, she climbed out and wrapped a rather fluffy black towel around her body after wringing out her long hair.

She walked out into the bedroom to see a cream-colored simple cotton dress lying on the bed. Next to it was a simple pair of brown and cream sandals. She put it all on and slowly combed out her hair with a comb that Prim set out for her. She walked to the mirror to inspect her hair and decided that, as usual, she wanted it out of her face. She exited the bedroom hesitantly to see everyone looking at her.

"Mom, can you braid my hair like you did… for the reaping?" she mumbled softly.

As much as she wanted to hate her mother for accepting her father so quickly, she noticed the changes he brought out in her. She was glowing and very happy. While Katniss couldn't forgive her father for the past five years of abandonment, she did recognize how happy his return made her mother and sister and for now, that would have to be enough for both of them. She avoided his gaze as her mother instructed her to sit in a chair while she deftly wove her hair into the intricate braid. When it was done, Katniss smiled at her gratefully.

"What is your favorite part of the bunker, Little Duck?" she asked Prim.

"The workout area! It's fun because it has fun stuff to do not just for adults. There is a swimming pool, a jungle gym, and obstacle course for little kids and grown ups." Prim said excitedly.

"Why don't you take me there? Show me what you like to do." Katniss wanted to make her sister happy but she also wanted to find as much normalcy as she could in this place.

Prim squealed excitedly and yelled a goodbye to their parents as she pulled them out of the room.

"What do Mom and Dad do here?" Katniss asked curiously as they walked.

"Dad works with the engineers doing something. I think that they are the ones who keep this place as inconspicuous as they can." Prim said.

"That's a big word." Katniss laughed at her little sister's proud face at pronouncing it right.

"Mom works in the hospital area. She loves doing that stuff again. I'm helping her when I don't go and play around in the workout place." Prim said happily.

"That sounds great." Katniss bit her lip.

She was a little hesitant to admit that it bothered her. She knew that she hadn't even been at the bunker for a day but she didn't imagine that she could possibly feel at home there. But Prim and her mother seemed to fit in perfectly. Katniss sighed and reminded herself that it wasn't the place that made the home, but the people. And she was very grateful to have her sister back beside her and she intended to protect her at all costs.

When they reached the workout area, Prim dragged her in and Katniss looked around with wide eyes. It was a very impressive place. It was even bigger than the training room that the Capitol had for the Hunger Games tributes. She could see people splashing around in the pool through a glass door that led to the pool area. Across the large room she could see two doors labeled **MALE** and **FEMALE**. She assumed that they were locker rooms of some sort.

She looked around the room and caught sight of blonde hair. Her heart leapt but then she realized that he was too short to be Cato. But he still looked familiar. Then she realized that it was the man who had been standing beside Cato, most likely his older brother. He was bending over a workout machine and talking to someone. As she stood on her tiptoes to see who it was, she gasped when he stood. Cato was there, looking as tall and (dare she say it) amazingly handsome as ever. His blonde hair was dripping with sweat and he was grinning at his brother with a happiness she hadn't ever seen in his eyes.

When his eyes shifted past his brother meet with hers, she realized why her heart sped up and her body erupted in warm shivers when she saw him. He was shirtless… and damn he looked good!

**Author's Note: I have wanted to write a Thresh/Katniss conversation for a little while and I also wanted someone to counter Gale's argument against Cato. I figured that I could put those two together. Next chapter, possible Katniss/Cato moments. But only if you review! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Cato POV**

"Cato, Cato!" Ceporis shouted, jumping up on the bed and bouncing up and down.

Cato groaned and turned over.

"Leave me 'lone!" he grumbled sleepily.

"You have to get up! I wanna play! Catri and Crucius won't play with me!" he whined, shoving at his older brother's shoulder.

"Catri, play with Ceporis." Cato mumbled, burying his head in his pillow.

"No!" Catri exclaimed.

Cato looked up to see her sitting in front of the mirror with Ivory brushing out her shiny blonde hair. She grinned at him through the mirror.

"Where's Laurel?" he asked, sitting up reluctantly.

"Your brother has her with your mom and dad. They dote on her so much." Ivory said in her soft voice.

Cato rolled his eyes. Of course his father would love his granddaughter. He treated his children well when they were babies as well. He looked over at his little brother to see him smiling widely and hopefully.

"How old is she?" he asked, not even remembering when she was born.

"A year next month." Ivory answered, smiling at Catri marveled over her soft hair.

Cato stood and walked to the door of the bedroom, opening it to see his parents, brother, and little niece on the couches. They all looked up at him. His mother had a happy expression, his brother a slight smile, and his father a scowl. Cato looked at his brother.

"Ceporis wants to go to the workout area to play. Do you want to come?" he asked.

"You don't have to work out anymore, little brother." Crucius said with a grin.

"I know, I just feel most comfortable when I am." He said, tugging uncomfortably on his sleeve.

"Well let's go then!" Crucius exclaimed, jumping up and clapping Cato on the shoulder.

"You should probably stay in shape son." His father said, not taking his glare off of him.

"Why do you care? I'm obviously done with the Academy." Cato snapped back.

His father smirked.

"Because you'll have to help train your little brother of course." He said with a triumphant tone.

Cato saw red, that's all he knew before he had his father pinned against the couch he was sitting on. He was looming over him. Cato could take his father. He wasn't afraid of him anymore. He was much bigger now.

"Ceporis and Catri aren't going anywhere near the Academy. Hell, the Academy probably doesn't even exist anymore. My brother and sister are in no danger of ever going in the Hunger Games. Do you know why? Because the Hunger Games are going to end." He growled.

"Cato, let him go." he heard his brother saying softly behind him.

He didn't bother to try to restrain Cato, that would be pointless.

"If you ever threaten them again, I'll make sure the rebels put you out on your ass. Then you'll be executed by the precious Capitol you love so much." He snapped before letting his father go.

Then he stomped back to the room and changed into workout clothes in the bathroom. He didn't look at his younger siblings, not wanting them to see him so riled up. When he walked out, his father was talking in hushed tones to his brother, who was trying to calm him down.

"I'm leaving." Cato said before walking out of the apartment and to the hall. His brother caught up with him quickly.

"You pissed him off." Crucius said.

"No, he pissed me off. I just reacted." Cato said.

"Well, either way. I had to convince Dad to go take a walk so that he wouldn't take it out on Ceporis and Catri when we left. Not like Mom would let him. I think that she's actually learned to stand up for her children." His brother said bitterly.

"No, I think she's just terrified of them turning out like me." he snapped.

"Cato… she's not..." he cut him off with a glare.

"I'm a killing machine, Crucius. Even more than you were. I'm brutal. That's all that people see when they look at me. That's all that Mom sees, I guarantee it." he said.

"Well, I know for a fact that there is a group of people who don't see you like that." Crucius shrugged.

"Who?" Cato scoffed.

"The tributes that you led out of the arena. I saw how they looked at you when they first met you. You were their hero. You saved their lives and they were grateful for that." he said.

"I also killed some of their fellow tributes. Do you think they've forgiven that so easily?" he said.

"You forget that, besides our family and our father, people do forgive. I've seen a change in you since you left for the Games, Cato. I actually saw you smile at someone other than Catri and Ceporis." He said.

Cato scoffed and shook his head, not believing it.

"Who exactly did you see me smiling at?" he demanded, not hiding his disbelief.

"That girl from District 12, the brunette." Crucius said knowingly.

He laughed triumphantly when a slight pink tinge stained his cheeks.

"I knew it, there's a girl!" he said, clapping his back once again.

"There's not a girl! There's a friend." Cato shrugged as he opened the door to the training center.

Crucius laughed and shook his head.

"Do you want me to ask Clove? I'm sure she'll tell the truth." He said, looking at Cato with a questioning yet highly amused expression.

"Go to hell." He growled, shaking his head at his brother.

"What's her name?" he asked, continuing to bother his brother.

"I'm not going to talk to you about this. There is nothing to talk about. She's just a friend like Clove or… any other girl who is just a friend." He said before he jogged over to the weight machine.

"You can't avoid this forever, little brother!" Crucius sang before he got started on his own machine.

"Wanna bet?" Cato mumbled before he began to work out furiously, losing himself in the intense burning of his muscles.

Thirty minutes later, he was pouring sweat as he continued through his normal circuit. It had been at least three weeks since he'd done it and his body was protesting. He stretched out slowly as his eyes darted around the gym. None of the tributes were in there at that moment. That Gale guy was in the corner doing push-ups with another guy he didn't recognize. They looked kind of alike so he assumed that they were brothers. He slowly peeled off his shirt and sighed with relief when the cold air hit his scorching skin.

"District 12 isn't here, brother. You aren't impressing anyone." Crucius laughed from the bench-pressing machine.

Cato shook his head and proceeded to make fun of his brother's maximum weight on the machine.

"Think you can do better?" he asked, standing up and gesturing to the seat.

"I'll take another fifty pounds, brother." Cato said with a grin before he slid onto the seat and waited for the weights to settle into place.

Then he lifted the bar and did the first few reps with ease. After a few minutes, his muscles started to fatigue and shake.

"Come on! You can do it! Fight the burn! Kill the burn!" Crucius shouted from above him, where he was leaning over.

"Shut up, asshole." Cato grunted as he hauled the weights back to the stand.

Then he slowly stood and grinned at his brother's silly expression.

"Told you I can do better." He said triumphantly.

Then his eyes slid past Crucius to the door of the gym. Katniss was standing there with a younger blonde girl jumping around her excitedly, chattering her ear off. She was wearing a cream dress that hugged her curves perfectly and her hair was intricately braided away from her face. He'd seen her in a dress, at the interviews. But something about this dress, the simplicity of it, it made her look more beautiful than he'd ever seen her look before. It helped that she didn't have any make up on yet she wasn't covered in dirt and blood like she had been in the past few days. Her black eye was even looking better, yellowing a little bit.

Her eyes were on him too, scanning his bare chest and abs. He squirmed under her gaze until he realized the desire plain in her eyes and the way she licked her lips slowly.

"Hey. Stop flexing. She's already impressed with you." His brother said, obviously laughing his ass off at his inability to look away from the beautiful girl.

"Damn, you are just undressing each other with your eyes." Cato reached out and swatted at his brother as if to shoo him away.

Just as he was about to walk to Katniss, the little girl dragging Katniss away towards the locker room took her attention away. Her eyes shifted back to him and she smiled slightly before being yanked through the door.

Cato finally moved his eyes away and stumbled towards another machine.

"Oh little brother, you are hopelessly lost now." Crucius said, grinning at him.

Cato turned around and swung his hand at his head. Unluckily, Crucius still had enough instincts to duck so that his hand simply sailed through the air.

"Lost!" he exclaimed before darting away.

* * *

Katniss tried to pay attention as Prim showed her around the locker room but her mind was still on Cato's bare chest and abs. Damn he was ripped. She hadn't had enough time to check him out when she was cleaning up his wounds back in District 12. But now, she had a full minute to just stare. And that was a glorious minute indeed. She shook her head, trying to force her mind elsewhere. Since when had she become a puddle of goo at the sight of a boy's bare chest?

"Katniss?" she looked down at her sister.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"They're going to be serving dinner soon. Are you hungry?" Prim repeated.

Katniss clapped her hand to her suddenly growling stomach and Prim giggled.

"I guess that's a yes." She said, turning to walk out of the locker room.

Katniss followed her in a daze, not paying attention as she exited the locker room and ran smack into a wall. A very soft, warm, chiseled wall. With strong hands and very attractive looking dark pink lips. And blue eyes that seemed to go on forever and ever. Katniss shook her head out of her deep inspection of Cato's face. Cato! She staggered backwards but his hands kept an iron grip on her upper arms without pressing hard enough to hurt her.

"Easy there." he whispered in her ear as he drew her closer.

"Hi… I mean, thanks." Katniss mumbled back.

"Hi. And you're welcome." He said, grinning a very attractive smile at her.

The sound of a voice clearing came from behind Cato. His eyes grew tired and annoyed as he turned to look at whoever it was. Katniss just studied his high, defined cheekbone that turned to face her.

"Katniss… Katniss!" she snapped out of it and noticed that Cato had stepped away.

"This is my brother, Crucius." He said, gesturing to the man Katniss saw standing with Cato before.

"Oh… um… hi." She said, sticking out her hand.

He grinned at her and shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet the famous girl from District 12." He said with laughter in his voice.

"You don't hate me?" Katniss asked instantly.

He looked confused.

"Why would I hate you when I don't even know you?" he asked.

"Because most Districts hate 12 without even knowing them." She said automatically, not really paying attention to what she was saying.

"Yes well, I do not do that." Crucius said with a smile.

A sharp elbow poked her side and she shot Prim a look.

"This is my little sister, Primrose. But everyone calls her Prim." Katniss said, gesturing to her.

Prim grinned sweetly at the two men.

"Not Katniss. She calls me Little Duck. But no one else is allowed to call me that." Prim said, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Prim it is." Crucius said, laughing along with Cato.

"We're about to go to the dining area. Do you want to come with us?" Prim asked innocently with wide eyes.

Katniss stared at her, astonished at her sudden openness. She was usually shy with new people but that seemed to have changed.

"Well, I think we have to go get changed before, Prim. But thank you for the invitation." Cato said with a warm grin.

Katniss smiled at him, pleased that he was being so kind with Prim. That was yet another thing that was so amazing about him. She shook of the thoughts. Since when was she keeping track of what was amazing about Cato?

"That's fine! We'll just save you a seat!" Prim exclaimed.

Both of them laughed, Katniss as well but more nervously than anything else.

"I'm sure they want to sit with their family, Prim." She said, placing her hand on her sister's back.

"Nonsense. Our family can sit with your family." Crucius said with a smile directed at both of them.

"Fantastic!" Prim exclaimed.

"Yeah, absolutely fantastic." Katniss said with a smile, not really entirely sure what just happened.

She was still trying to figure it out when Prim dragged her out of the training center and towards the dining area.

**Author's Note: Just to let you know, I'm imagining Joseph Morgan as Crucius and Candice Accola as Ivory. I've changed her to a blonde, which is how I originally wanted her to look. I accidentally typed brunette a few chapters ago. Let me know what you think! Please please please!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss looked around the cafeteria sneakily trying to spot the people she knew. The District 12 refugees and the tributes and their families mostly populated it. After they got their food, Prim pulled Katniss to the table where their parents were already sitting and eating. When her mom let out a schoolgirl like giggle, she rolled her eyes. It was like nothing ever happened. Like he didn't leave them to starve to death.

"How was the training center?" her mother asked.

"Fine." Katniss shrugged.

"I met one of the tributes who survived with Katniss. He was nice." Prim piped up.

None of them missed the blush that appeared on Katniss' cheek.

"Which one?" her father asked.

She refused to say anything to him, instead letting Prim do all the talking.

"His name was Cato. I think he was from District 2." She said.

They both looked at her with wide eyes.

"No judging." She growled before either could say anything.

"Katniss… District 2?" her mother asked, looking hesitant.

"Yes, District 2. He was a Career. Keyword is _was_. The Capitol tried to kill him too. He helped us escape the arena and survive until we could get here. He saved my life and other things of mine." Katniss snapped, referring to the incident with the perverted peacemakers. "He is as broken and messed up as any of us. He only killed because he was forced to. You have no idea what you're talking about yet you're placing judgments on someone you haven't even met yet." She said in a low voice.

Then she made to stand up before Prim caught her sleeve.

"Please don't leave. Cato and his family are coming to sit with us." She said with wide, pleading eyes.

Katniss sighed, she'd forgotten about that. She couldn't leave. Prim would be so disappointed. And Cato… well he was expecting her to be there. She slowly sank back into her seat. A flash of blonde hair caught her eye and she turned to see who it was. Cato was walking through the cafeteria with a little boy clinging to his back and a little girl holding onto his hand with him twirling her around and around in circles. They were all three laughing. Crucius was following behind him with the same woman he was with before holding the sleeping baby. Then Cato's parents were following behind them. The woman was smiling at her children and the man was scowling around the cafeteria.

After they got their food, Prim jumped up and waved at Crucius, who was scanning the cafeteria. Katniss ducked her head when he caught sight of them and smiled. Then he led the family over to them.

"Hello, Primrose." Crucius said with a grin.

"Hi." She said, smiling back at him.

He set his tray beside her and nodded at Katniss.

"Mom, Dad. This is Crucius and Cato. I don't know anyone else's name." Prim said.

Katniss looked up to see Cato standing there uncomfortably. She realized that he had no idea where to sit. When they made eye contact, she hesitantly gestured to the seat beside her and he nodded before his eyes flashed back to his father. When Katniss looked at him, she almost recoiled from the disgusted look on his face.

"You think I'm sitting here boy?" he growled, glaring at both Crucius and Cato.

"We're sitting here, Dad." Crucius said, rolling his eyes.

Katniss looked on with wide eyes.

"No." he said instantly.

"Dad." Cato said, looking embarrassed and angered.

"Are you coming?" he demanded, looking at his wife and Cato's mother.

"I want to sit with my children, Crixus." She said sadly.

"Then I will leave." He said, turning and walking away, throwing his food in a trashcan before walking out of the cafeteria.

Before she knew it, a tray of food was thrown beside her and Cato was stalking off in the direction of his father. She jumped up to follow.

"It's best if you leave them. Tempers usually run rampant when my father and my brother are in the same place." Crucius said as he caught her arm to slow her down.

"He needs someone." Was all she could think of to say before she took off in the direction of the door that Cato just stomped through.

She hurried in the direction of the shouting voices that she could hear getting further and further away as they stomped off.

"… completely disrespected them! What gives you the right?" she heard Cato yell.

"I don't make a habit of sitting with filth! You should know better than to sully yourself with their dirtiness!" That made Katniss' temper flare a little bit.

"You don't get to say that! It is because of them that you are alive. You would be dead otherwise!" Cato shouted.

"Not if you hadn't become such a cowards. If you had killed all of them, you would be a Victor and I would be honored!" she heard Crixus scream as they came into view.

They were standing still and glaring at each other, both of their faces red with fury.

"Hey!" she shouted.

They both turned towards her, Cato surprised and his father even more infuriated.

"How dare you yell at me, District 12 dirt!" he exclaimed.

Before she knew it, her hand connected with his face and he stumbled back as the slap echoed through the empty hall. She was as shocked as anyone at her actions. She couldn't even look at Cato because she was sure that he was angry that she hit his father.

"I don't know you, sir. I'm sorry to have disrespected you with that hit. But you have disrespected my family and I do not stand for that. We are not filth. My people, and the people of District 13, saved your life and the lives of your family. You can show a little respect for that." she said breathlessly, staring up at him.

He simply growled and stomped off, this time unimpeded, as Cato stayed rooted in place. She didn't want to look at him, afraid that he was angry with her.

"Katniss." He murmured.

She slowly turned to face him and when she looked up, he was looking at her in awe.

"I can't believe you just did that." he said softly, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just don't like it when people insult me and my family." She said, looking down at her shaking hands.

His finger gently lifted her chin to look at him.

"It was amazing." He said with a smile.

"Really? You're not mad that I hit your father?" she asked in a small voice.

Suddenly he busted out into laughter, bending over at the waist as he backed away from her.

"I've never seen anyone do that! It was great!" he choked out between guffaws.

Katniss stared at him, unable to reconcile this Cato with the one who was boasting about how many people he was going to kill in the training room. As he straightened up and quit laughing, she walked to him and put her hands on either of his cheeks.

"Do you have multiple personalities?" she asked, staring into his blue eyes.

"What?" he asked, confused and amused at the same time.

"You're so different from when I first saw you. You were so menacing and… cold-blooded." His smile disappeared and he looked regretful and even a little sad.

"Now you're… you're normal. You laugh and you joke around with your brother. And with your little brother and sister, you looked so protective and like a normal big brother." She whispered, marveling over the sudden change.

"My siblings bring out the best in me." he said quietly, trying avoid her scrutinous gaze.

"No, you changed before that. You were nice to Rue and to me when we were in District 12. You comforted me when I saw the people who were dead and when I found out my father was alive. You…" she was cut off by the sudden feeling of his soft lips on hers.

She was surprised for a moment but then she responded back in kind, pressing her body to his and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer. His hands went around her waist and suddenly she was lifted off the floor.

After a few more moments of the passionate kiss, she pulled away.

"Prim." She whispered, her mind fuzzy from the kiss.

"That's a strange thing to say after you kiss a guy." He mumbled, his voice a little rough.

"She'll come looking for us in a second." Katniss said with a slight groan.

"So?" he asked, his lips touching her neck, surprising her as she squeaked.

He placed sloppy kisses on her neck and collarbone.

"So… do you want your sister to come see us like this?" he hesitated and pulled away.

"You make a convincing argument, Fire Girl." he said, sounding annoyed.

"We should get back." she said with a nod.

He slowly set her down and looked at her with the desire that she now recognized plain in his eyes. As they slowly drew away from each other, small footsteps echoed around them. Prim rounded the corner with searching eyes.

"There you are! Everyone is waiting!" she exclaimed, darting forward and grabbing Katniss' hand.

She looked back at Cato with a knowing look, proving that she was right and also making sure that he was following before Prim yanked her around the corner. When they reached the cafeteria, Katniss looked at the table, surprised at what she saw. Everyone had shuffled around the order in which they were sitting. Cato's mother was sitting beside her own mother. Crucius was sitting beside her father deep in conversation with him as his wife talked to the two mothers from across the table. Prim darted forward and sat by Cato's little siblings, both of them grinning up at her. Katniss was stuck sitting beside Cato's mom with him on the other side of her and his little brother on the other side of him.

Everyone smiled at them before getting back into their conversations. Only Crucius kept his eyes on them, taking both of their unkempt appearances with a grin as if he knew exactly what had been going on in that hall.

"You have a big family." Katniss murmured, trying to get her attention off of Crucius' knowing eyes.

"Oh right. That's my mom, Caleesi. You know Crucius. That's his wife Ivory with their daughter, Laurel. Then these are my two little siblings, Catri and Ceporis." He said, ruffling his little brother's hair.

Ceporis growled and pushed his brother's hand away, yet he was grinning up at him as if he were his hero.

"That's a lot of C's." she remarked, smiling at Catri, who smiled back.

"And you're named after flowers." He said, nudging her side and smiling slightly.

"This is my mom, Camellia, and my dad, Leonis." She said, pointing at her parents.

To her surprise, her father offered Cato his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Thank you for keeping my daughter safe." He said.

Cato shook his hand with wide, confused eyes.

"You're welcome." He said hesitantly.

Katniss was suddenly annoyed and angered that her father was also trying to intimidate him by reminding him that she was his daughter. It was as much a threat as it was an expression of gratitude. She narrowed her eyes at her father and took Cato's hand out of his and put it under the table. She was about to snap at her father when two hands went over her eyes. She jumped and gripped Cato's hand tightly that she didn't realize she'd still been holding.

"Guess who!" a high, sing-song voice said.

"Rue!" she said with a smile, turning to embrace the little girl.

"Hi Katniss!" she exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

Katniss knew exactly who to introduce her to.

"Everyone, this is Rue. Rue, this is Prim, my little sister. I think you'll find that you like each other." She said with a gentle smile.

Rue skipped to the other side of the table and her and Prim instantly launched into a conversation along with Catri as they made room for Prim.

"I think you were right." Cato said with a chuckle.

Katniss smiled and stroked his hand with her thumb.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man in black moving towards them with a blank expression. When he reached their table, he looked down at them with emotionless eyes.

"Katniss Everdeen." He said.

"Yes." She replied hesitantly.

"You and Cato Selkirke are needed." he said.

"By who?" Cato asked.

The man just stared at them.

"By who?" Katniss demanded, her and Cato automatically shooting him twin glares.

"President Coin." He said simply.

"Who is that?" Cato asked.

"The President of District 13 and the rebellion." Katniss' father answered.

Katniss and Cato exchanged hesitant glances.

"You don't have a choice." They both whipped their heads back to the man.

"You may want to reword that because the last people who told us we didn't have a choice ended up putting us in a fight to the death." Katniss said through gritted teeth.

"We only want to go so that we can know exactly what the President Coin wants from us." Cato finished.

They stood, letting go of each other's hands before anyone saw, and stood in front of the man. Katniss gestured for him to walk so they could follow. When they reached the hall, they saw similarly dressed men ahead leading Marvel, Glimmer, and Thresh. They looked at each other, both wondering what the hell was going on.

**Author's Note: I think that I'm going to have both Katniss and Cato POV next chapter. Thank you for reading. Please review! Please please please!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

They finally caught up to Glimmer and Thresh when they reached a large metal door with two different keypads on it. Katniss looked at Thresh and he nodded. It was at the very end of the hall that she'd been lost in. A few moments later, Marvel, Clove, Peeta, and Gale showed up.

"What's going on?" Marvel asked.

"We have no idea." Glimmer shrugged.

Suddenly the door opened and a man in a grey military looking outfit stepped out. His steely eyes surveyed all of them.

"You are a gaunt looking bunch." He remarked.

Then he nodded at the men in black and they all walked back down the hall away from them.

"What exactly do you want?" Katniss demanded.

Gale nudged her and shook his head.

"I'm Boggs." He said gruffly, staring at Katniss with an unimpressed gaze.

He nodded at Gale and Katniss turned to him.

"You know him?" she asked.

"Yeah. He's the President's right hand guy. He also heads up the army of District 13 and the rebellion." Gale said.

"And you are the tributes who lived against all odds. Marvel Cronin and Glimmer Lockhearst, District 1. Cato Selkirke and Clove Rankine, District 2. Thresh Flamsteed, District 11. Peeta Mellark, and Katniss Everdeen, District 12." He said, staring around at all of them.

"Where are the other tributes, Rue, Gaius, Saffra and Briar?" Peeta asked.

"We aren't in need of their services." He said simply before he gestured for them to walk through the door.

The hall inside looked different than everything else Katniss saw so far in the bunker. Instead of grey metal, the walls were plaster and a muted gold. There were doors with numbers on them labeled down the halls. People in both military uniforms and normal clothes were milling around the large hallway. At the end stood an ornate wooden door with a golden plaque. As they got closer, Katniss could read that it read **President Alma Coin**.

"Boggs! What's going on here?" another man in military uniform asked as he passed.

"They are being briefed by Coin." Boggs answered before rapping on the door three times.

A buzz sounded and he opened it. They followed him into a large office. A solemn and severe looking woman sat behind a big desk staring at them.

"Hello." She said, staring all of them down.

They lined up and stared back, making sure she knew that she didn't intimidate them.

"May I first say that I am impressed that a few teenagers managed to outsmart the Capitol and survive against all odds?" they didn't say a word, just staring with their arms folded.

"Well, now that introductions and all that are over. I have an… idea that I would like turned into reality." She said.

"I have an army. They are all very good, very strong men and women. But, I am missing something. They don't have a good reason to fight. But you, all of you, you do." She said, standing up and nodding at Boggs.

"You want us to join your army?" Marvel asked.

"We've done enough fighting." Cato said with a shake of his head.

Coin's eyes narrowed at him, at all of them.

"You don't understand. Everyone who lives at District 13 has to pay their dues. Everyone has to put something into the District in order to get something out of it. Protection, food, shelter. And for many of you, you have siblings who are too young to be able to adequately give something to our society. Therefore you should do as much as you can to keep them safe." She said.

Katniss gaped at her along with the rest of the tributes

"You're threatening us?" Peeta demanded.

"And our families?" Katniss growled.

"Of course not. I'm simply reminding you that everything has a duty." She said with a smile that sent chills through Katniss' body.

"You can take your duty and shove it up your…" Katniss cut Cato off with her hand to his mouth.

"And if we don't… do our duty? What happens to us? To our families?" she asked hesitantly.

"Let's not talk about extremes." Coin said with a shake of her head.

Katniss removed her hand and they all exchanged wary glances. They knew a threat when they heard one. They'd been put in the Hunger Games, which was the biggest threat that can be thrown at anyone in Panem. They all hesitantly nodded at the woman.

"Great! We'll have to send some of you to our military base. It's not far, just a few hours away by hovercraft." She said with a smile.

"Some of us?" Clove asked.

"Yes, mostly all of you. In fact, everyone but Ms. Everdeen is going to the base." At that, everyone stared at her with a glare.

"What?" Katniss demanded.

"Why isn't she coming?" Gale asked, looking out of the loop for once.

"Well, first of all, the four of you…" she pointed to Glimmer, Marvel, Cato, and Clove. "… have been practically trained to be soldiers. You are perfect for our army. You three…" she poined to Peeta, Thres, and Gale. "… are strong enough to be soldiers once you are disciplined and taught the use of a weapon, which can happen at the base in no time." she said.

"And what about me? I'm good with a weapon." Katniss snapped.

"A bow and arrow, yes. But are you good at hand-to-hand combat? That is often what fights come down to, Ms. Everdeen. You are going to remain behind and you are going to train if you want to be in the army. And if and when I decide that you are able to join, you will join." Coin said simply.

Katniss felt fury rising up inside of her.

"Now, why don't you go and tell your families of this recent development. You will be leaving within a month. I'm sure they will be proud of your loyalty to this rebellion." Coin said with a grin.

"And you, Ms. Everdeen. I wish to speak to you alone." She said.

Katniss glared at her and felt everyone stay exactly where they were standing.

"Did you not hear me?" the President asked, staring at the rest of them.

"We heard you. We're no so sure we want to leave you alone with Katniss." Glimmer shot back.

"It's ok, guys. I can handle this." She said, waving them off.

She watched as Boggs ushered them out of the room. Cato was last, turning and making eye contact with her. The warning was clear. Be careful. When the door closed, she turned back to the woman.

"What?" she asked icily.

"Well I simply wanted to ask you to do another thing for us." Coin said, sitting back at the desk and gesturing to a chair in front of it.

"Ask or threaten?" she demanded.

Coin simply laughed.

"As you may have been told, the rebellion has used you as a catalyst and as a sort of a symbol. The Girl on Fire. It's catchy." She said with a wry grin.

"And?" Katniss said, staring straight at her.

"And I wish for this to continue. You fascinate the Districts, with the exception of District 2. The Girl on Fire. The Mockingjay." Coin said.

"They think I'm dead. The Capitol told them." Katniss said simply.

"And we can correct that misunderstanding with a simple propo or few." Coin shrugged.

Suddenly it all dawned on Katniss. Why she wanted her to stay behind instead of going to the base, where she could have easily been trained. Why she kept her behind and sent all of the others away.

"You want me to do propaganda for you. You want me to be the face of the rebellion." She said.

"And you can't very well do that if you're in my army, can you? You have to be pretty and influential. The Capitol and the Districts appreciate beauty. And Katniss you are a very beautiful creature when that stylist of yours has you all dressed up. I'm simply asking for you to encourage the Districts to join us. To show the Capitol that they no longer have power over you or anyone else. They tried to kill you and failed. They dropped bombs on you and now you have risen out of the ashes. It's a very powerful message." Coin said with a grin.

"And if I say no, who are you going to threaten now?" Katniss asked.

Coin's grin grew.

"There are many different ways to die when one is in the army. In battle, a shot to the head, a bomb. Or on your base. An accidental friendly fire. A malfunction. Any number of things. It would be a shame if your lover boy was killed so unfairly in his young age." Coin said sadly.

"Peeta and I aren't together, or haven't you heard that was a ploy to get sponsors?" Katniss said, smiling back.

"Oh I wasn't talking about Mr. Mellark." Coin said, turning a monitor towards her.

It was a video. Katniss paled at the sight of it. It was the image of her kissing Cato in the hallway after she drove his father away. It replayed over and over again. And in that moment, Katniss knew she didn't have a choice. She was going to be used by the rebellion just like the Capitol used her.

**Author's Note: Hope you like it! I really appreciate everyone that reviews for me. Keep it up please! Please please please!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss wandered around the halls slowly, not paying attention to anything or anyone around her. She didn't want to go back to her family and explain what happened. She really didn't want to tell anyone that the rebellion was just as bad as the Capitol. Or at least the leader was. They were supposed to have faith in the rebellion, not hatred. And Prim seemed so happy there. She finally looked up and saw a door to her left with a name written on it. It took her a moment to realize that she recognized it. **Selkirke.** It was Cato's apartment. She stood in front of it and held her hand over the door for a moment before knocked hesitantly.

It opened after a moment and she recognized his mother, Caleesi.

"Hi." She said softly, feeling suddenly shy and embarrassed that she knocked on the door.

"Hello. Katniss?" she asked.

Katniss nodded and the other woman smiled.

"Are you looking for Cato?" Caleesi asked.

"Um… yeah." She said, looking down to hide her pink cheeks.

"I'm afraid he took off for a walk. That meeting upset him." his mother said.

"Oh, ok. I guess I'll just see him later." Katniss said with a shrug before she began to walk away.

"You can come in if you want. To wait for him. I was just about to put a pot of tea on the stove. You can join me if you like." Katniss turned around to see Caleesi smiling hopefully.

She couldn't say no to such a hopeful look.

"Of course." She said before walking into the room.

It was larger than her own family's apartment. But that made sense considering that their family was larger. Ivory looked up from the couch where she was playing with her baby's little hands and making her giggle. She smiled at Katniss and then went back to paying attention to her child.

"If it's not a good time, I can talk to Cato later." Katniss said, turning to look at Caleesi.

"Nonsense. Cato seems to like you and I wish to get to know you because of that." she said with a smile.

She gestured for Katniss to sit at the table and she began fixing the tea. As it brewed, she set a plate of bread on the table and told her to dig in. Katniss immediately recognized the loaf. The Mellarks must have been selling their baked goods at the market.

"Thank you for inviting me in." she said to the older woman.

"Thank you for agreeing to come. I'm sure it is uncomfortable for you but I promise we won't bite." She said with a warm smile.

Once the tea was ready, Caleesi pulled out three teacups.

"Ivory, come sit with us. You can bring Laurel. We'll all be happy to have her join us." She said as she sat down.

Ivory pulled out a chair and balanced the little baby on her leg facing out towards Katniss, who was across the table. Her bright blue eyes focused on Katniss immediately, looking curious. Katniss stared back, unsure of what to do. She hadn't had any interaction with babies since Prim was born. And she was four when that happened. Suddenly the baby grinned and gurgled.

"She likes you!" Caleesi said happily as she poured the tea.

"How do you know?" Katniss asked, astonished that they could interpret her noises.

"She was laughing." Ivory explained.

"And Lauren usually only smiles at people she likes." Caleesi said.

Katniss nodded and looked at the baby again. Her solemn frown slowly bloomed into a smile as she looked at the innocent. Laurel squealed and giggled again, pointing at Katniss with both hands.

"She wants you to hold her." Ivory said with a grin.

"What?" Katniss deadpanned at that.

She had no idea how to act around a baby, much less how to hold one.

"Hand her to me." Caleesi took Laurel and then immediately passed her over to Katniss, who tried to argue against it but still ended up with the baby in her hands.

She held her awkwardly halfway standing on her lap.

"You can sit her down how I had her. Laurel loves to look around." Ivory said.

She nodded with big eyes and did as she said. Laurel looked across the table at her mother with big eyes and Katniss was afraid that she would start crying at the loss of her mother's comforting arms. Instead, she let out another few giggles and bounced up and down. Her hand went around her stomach instantly to hold her in place so that she wouldn't slide off of her lap. Laurel's hands both suddenly grasped Katniss' with a strength that surprised her.

"She's strong!" she exclaimed.

"Look at her father and uncle. She has good genes." Ivory said knowingly.

Katniss nodded, thinking of Cato's bulging muscles. She had to stop or she would be panting at the images in her head.

"Cato told us that he was going to be in the army. He's not happy about it. Crucius had to take him on a walk to calm him." Caleesi said sadly.

"I'm sorry." Katniss mumbled, knowing that they must be frightened at losing Cato again.

"I just think he's so tired of the fighting and he doesn't want to take part in it. I wonder what that President said to get him to go so willingly. Cato would normally be putting up a bigger fight." his mother said.

"She's very convincing." Was all Katniss said.

"I just wish that I could have assurance that he will be safe." Caleesi said.

Ivory reached over and rubbed her shoulder softly.

"To be honest, I think that Cato will be safer at the army base rather than here." Katniss said, thinking of Coin's devious eyes.

"Really?" Ivory asked, surprised.

Katniss simply nodded, wishing that she could know that she would be experiencing that same safety.

"Well, he'll have you to look after him, won't he?" Caleesi said with a smile.

It seemed that Cato left that out of his explanation.

"Actually I'm not going. I'm staying here. I'm not soldier enough apparently. She wants me trained before I go." she said.

She left out the rest about the propos and being used as the face of the rebellion. She wasn't sure if the rebellion had as many microphones everywhere as the Capitol did. She wasn't willing to put Cato and his family in danger so she chose to keep mum about it.

"That's ridiculous. You fought your way out of that arena just like the rest." Caleesi said with a shake of her head.

"I'll join them at some point. I just need to learn some things." Katniss shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about it.

"Hmm. I don't think they can teach you anything worthwhile." the older woman huffed.

"It'll be all right. Plus Cato will have Clove. She'll protect him as much as I would." She said.

"True." Ivory nodded along with Caleesi.

Suddenly the door to the bedroom slammed open, making Katniss jump and Laurel squeal with glee in her arms. Two blurs of blonde hair whirled through the air until they appeared beside Katniss, staring up at her.

"You're pretty." The little girl, Catri, said.

"Thank you." She said, smiling down at her.

"I think you're prettier!" The little boy, Ceporis, exclaimed.

The three older females laughed at his excitement.

"Cato is your friend, right?" Ceporis asked.

"I think so." Katniss said with a gentle smile as she unconsciously began to bounce Laurel on her lap much to the baby's amusement.

"I like you already." Catri decided, clambering up in the empty chair.

Ceporis ran around the table and pulled himself up into his mother's arms.

"I like you too." Katniss replied, smiling at them alternately.

A few moments later, the door opened and admitted two chuckling men, both blonde and quite good looking. When Cato caught sight of Katniss drinking tea with his mother and sister-in-law with the baby on her lap giggling and his siblings surrounding her staring at her as if she were an angel, he was shocked to say the least.

**Author's Note: I know that wasn't much. But I'm tired after work and I'm going to bed. I hope you liked it. Once again, I love all of my readers and reviewers. Please continue to do both! Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss stood quickly, balancing Laurel in her arms so that she wouldn't drop her.

"I'm sorry." She said, not knowing what else to say.

"For what?" he asked, suddenly grinning at her.

She sighed with relief, glad that he wasn't angry that she was spending time with his family. She didn't really know why she thought that he might be angry. Laurel's giggle pulled her out of her thoughts and she saw that the baby was looking at Crucius, who was making a face at her.

"Do you want to go see your daddy?" Katniss whispered, leaning down to the baby's ear.

Laurel looked up at her with her clear blue eyes and babbled something incoherent before she reached up and placed her hand on her face. Because the way she was twisted looked painful, Katniss twirled her around and held her high in the air. She was small and didn't weigh much. Katniss' arms were strong from using the bow and arrow so much. Laurel squealed with delight and kicked with her little legs as she held her in the air. When she looked away from her smiling face, she saw that everyone was watching her with smiles and Cato and Crucius had moved closer to them.

Laurel turned and looked at Cato before screaming happily and stretching her arms out to him. Cato looked surprised for a moment and reached out tentatively.

"If I can hold her, you can hold her." Katniss teased before she relinquished the squirming baby to his hands.

He looked unsure of what to do so he lifted her into the air as far as he could and brought her whooshing back down. Ivory looked panicked for a moment but Laurel's happy laugh filled the air and made her sigh with relief. Cato looked impressed with himself and continued to do it, sometimes even letting her go in the air and catching her again. It was easy for him to toss her, as if he were tossing a feather.

"Cato, you are going to spoil her if you don't stop." His mother admonished with a grin.

Katniss realized that she was grinning at the scene just like the rest of them. Cato finally brought her to a rest and handed her over to Crucius, who began murmuring to her in a low tone as he walked over to Ivory. Cato looked at her.

"Did you come here to find me?" he asked hesitantly, as if he were unsure of what to do.

"Um… yeah." Katniss nodded.

In the last few minutes of talking with Ivory and Caleesi and playing with Laurel, she'd forgotten about what had happened with Coin. Now it all came rushing back to her.

"I need to talk to you." She said, suddenly serious.

He recognized the tone and ushered her out of the apartment as she bade them goodbye.

"Where do we go?" Cato asked.

Katniss thought for a moment. Then she remembered Gale taking her to the forest room to talk. She suddenly knew why. That room probably didn't have surveillance, so they could talk freely. She didn't know that she had to worry about that until now.

"I know a place." Katniss said before she took off in the direction that she thought it was.

She heard Cato trailing behind her and she fought the urge to look back at him. She thought that she might have been lost until they wound up at the door and she sighed with relief, opening it and ushering him inside.

"This is interesting." He commented.

Katniss nodded and looked around. Once again, she felt a peaceful calm in this room. She didn't know exactly why the forest did that to her, but it did. She quickly darted to the nearest tree and bunched her dress together between her knees before she scampered up eagerly, smiling slightly as her hands met with the rough bark. When she was firmly planted on a strong branch, she looked down to see Cato staring up at her with a slightly open mouth.

"You are really fast at that." he remarked, sounding shocked.

"I used to climb trees all the time back at home. When I would go hunting and stuff." She said casually, kicking her feet back and forth.

"I've never really been around a forest. I mean, I have. We had rooms like this at the training center. They were for pure survival reasons. They would chill the room to below freezing or heat them up to insane temperatures. But they never made us climb trees." He said, placing his hand on the bark hesitantly.

"Do you want to try?" Katniss asked, leaning forward slightly.

Cato looked unsure for a moment before he shook his head.

"Oh come on, it's fun, I promise." She said, trying to coax him up the tree.

After a few more moments of arguing he finally assented. The first branch he touched, about five feet up the tree, snapped as soon as he put his weight on it. He dropped back on his feet with a slight huff and glared at the branch in his hand.

"Stupid fucking branch." He grumbled.

Katniss giggled, making him look up at her in surprise.

"You think that's funny?" he asked.

She clapped her hand over her mouth to suppress the giggles as she shook her head. It didn't work, her entire body shook with the force of her laughter.

"All right, why don't you come down here and laugh at me?" he challenged.

Katniss shook her head again and stood as if to go higher. Suddenly her feet were swept out from underneath her and she was falling. It was lucky that the branches were far apart and she didn't hit any. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for impact. It wasn't as though she hadn't fallen out of a tree before. The problem was that she knew that it wasn't dirt underneath the grass. She'd felt it while walking on it, there was concrete about three inches underneath it and that would not absorb her weight. Her processing was interrupted by her body being absorbed by a soft, warm yet strong surface. When she opened her eyes, she was looking up into the almost frightened, wide blue eyes of her hero.

"Are you ok?" Cato asked, sounding a little panicked.

"I'm fine." Katniss mumbled looking up to see that the branch had broken under her weight.

It must not have been that strong because she was not all that heavy.

"I chose a bad branch to stand on." she muttered, cursing her inattentiveness.

It was Cato's fault, he distracted her. She looked up to see him checking her for injuries.

"I'm fi… ow!" she exclaimed as she twirled her ankles to check for injury.

She was immediately on the ground and Cato was staring at her, imploring as to her injury.

"My ankle. It must have twisted or something when that branch snapped." Katniss said in a shaky voice.

"Which one?" he asked.

She pointed to her left leg. When his fingers prodded at it gently, tears sprung to her eyes and she grabbed his wrist, begging him to stop.

"I need to get you to the medical area." He said, bending down to pick her up again.

"No!" Katniss exclaimed, waving him off as she remembered why she had to talk to him in the first place.

"Why not?" he asked, confused.

"I still need to talk to you about something. My ankle isn't broken so it can last for a few more minutes as long as I don't put weight on it." she said, shaking her head.

"We can talk in the hospital." He shrugged, bending down again.

"No! The hospital will be bugged." She sighed, exasperated.

Cato was as stubborn as she was.

"And… we aren't being listened to here?" he asked.

"I don't think so. Gale brought me here earlier." She said, looking around suspiciously.

His eyes narrowed darkly and he scowled slightly. He sat on the ground in a huff, forgetting about her injury.

"What's going on with you and that Gale guy anyways? You lovers? Friends? Cousins?" he asked.

"Friends." Katniss said, astonished that he thought that her and Gale were anything more.

He stared at her for a moment.

"Wait, why do you ask? Were you… jealous?" she asked.

He just stared at the ground. Another giggle escaped from her throat and he looked up at her.

"Do you not remember where giggling got you last time?" he asked, gesturing up at the tree.

Katniss shrugged as she grinned at him.

"What did you need to talk about?" he asked, shaking his head at her.

Her smile disappeared and it was her turn to scowl at the ground.

"Coin is keeping me behind for another reason. She wants me to be the face of the rebellion, the mockingjay." She shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Cato asked.

"I'll basically be planting a huge target on my forehead. I'll be in propaganda for the rebellion and stuff. Promoting it and President Coin, I'd imagine." She said, looking up at him.

"You don't have to." He said instantly.

She laughed humorlessly.

"I wish that were true." She said softly.

"Why? What does she have on you? Who, or what, is she threatening." He asked, reaching out and lifting her chin up.

Katniss couldn't speak, not with his eyes so intense and gazing into her own.

"Oh you know, the usual. Painful death for me and all those around me. Mainly my family." She said, leaving out the part where Coin actually threatened him.

"Coin threatened all of our families. But you were willing to do stuff already. What did she threaten to make you do this?" he asked.

Katniss wanted to tell him, she did. but she had a feeling that if she did, Cato would go stomping to that woman's office and either put her in her place or get himself killed.

"Rue." She said immediately. "And Prim. She knows about my weakness for young children. Especially my sister and Rue since they are so similar. I'm sure you understand." She said, referring to his two smaller siblings.

He groaned and shook his head, standing up and driving his fist into a tree.

"Cato!" she shrieked.

"That woman has no right to threaten us! We didn't choose to come here! We didn't choose to join the rebellion! We're being forced! You're being forced! They made you the 'mockingjay' before they ever knew that you would assent to being the face of the rebellion!" he shouted.

Katniss made to stand up but as soon as she put weight on her left foot, she felt her body collapse to the ground. Cato caught her at the last second.

"We need to get you to the medical area." He said with an air of finality.

There was also something else in his voice and she could tell that the conversation wasn't over. She also knew that something, whatever it was, had just begun. She didn't know if it was between her and Coin. Between her and the Capitol. Or between her and Cato. She felt like it was all three. And she knew that, as long as Cato was in danger, she would do whatever Coin asked.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. My computer was broken for a few days. Let me know what you think please! Love it or hate it, I want to know!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss sighed as Cato picked her up easily and walked out of the room. People did double takes as they saw him carrying her down the hall.

"Do you even know where the hospital area is?" she asked bitterly.

She knew it was ridiculous, but she still hated feeling weak. The fact that she couldn't walk on her own and had to be carried made her irritable. She knew that it was unfair to take it out on Cato. It didn't help that she'd been injured in such a stupid way.

"I do. Crucius and I passed it on our walk." Cato said gruffly, obviously sensing her annoyance.

She just harrumphed and became quiet, trying to ignore the painful throbbing in her ankle. She really should not have tried to stand on it. When they arrived at a glass door with a see-through cross on it, a woman in a nurse's uniform ran to open it for them.

"You can set me down now, I'm fine." Katniss said, seeing an empty bed just feet away from them.

Cato just snorted and carried her over to it.

"Katniss?" her mother's voice came out of nowhere as she rushed over.

She was in a uniform as well.

"I'm fine, Mom." she sighed, leaning her head back on the pillow.

A doctor came over.

"Katniss, this is Dr. Aurelius." Her mother said.

He instantly began questioning her. She blushed deeply as she told him that she fell from a tree.

"Did you cut yourself?" he asked.

"No." she replied, confused as to why he would ask that.

"Are you sure?" he asked, gesturing to her dress.

She saw the scarlet stains on them and knew exactly where they came from. She turned to Cato, who was standing about two feet away from the bed watching everything with emotionless eyes. She reached over and snatched up the hand that he used to punch the tree. Blood was leaking out of several large gashes on his knuckles.

"You're bleeding!" she accused, glaring up at him for not taking care of himself, especially since they were in the medical area.

Her mother ran around the bed and took a look at Cato's hand that Katniss was still holding onto.

"Can you sit?" she asked softly, gesturing to the empty bed next to Katniss.

"I'm fine. I'll clean it up later." He said, waving her off.

"Cato. Sit." Katniss growled, leaving no room for argument.

Her mother looked surprised at how she talked to Cato. They were both surprised when he sat down, after giving Katniss a less than thrilled look. He hated looking weak as much as she did. But at that moment, she relished in that. This was her payback. She hissed in pain as the doctor prodded at her ankle less gently than Cato had.

"I'm sorry." He said simply.

Katniss glared after him when he turned his back to request something from a nurse. Then he turned back and smiled at her.

"Good news, it's just a mild sprain. As long as you keep from doing any extremely physical activity for the next week or so, you should be fine. I'll give you a bandage to wrap tightly around it and I'm going to give you a shot of morphling…"

He was cut off by Katniss' protests.

"I don't need morphling. Just give me pain pills or something. I'm fine." She said.

"Katniss…" her mother said disapprovingly.

"It won't do anything except make you a little sleepy and if you take it, you can walk on your own without experiencing too much pain. I can let you go back to your apartment if you get the shot. If not, I'll keep you here to make sure you stay off your feet. If you walk without it, you could hurt yourself worse because of the pain." He warned.

She groaned and banged her head against the metal backboard of the bed.

"Fine." She snapped, holding her arm out.

It took a few minutes for him to give her the shot and then he left, looking after other patients in the several rooms of the medical area. Her mother, in that time, had cleaned up and bandaged Cato's knuckles.

"Wait about thirty minutes for the morphling to go into effect and then you can go to the apartment. Go to the apartment, nowhere else. You need rest. You cannot walk on that ankle for very long." Her mother warned before running off to a screaming woman with an open gash on her stomach.

Katniss felt her stomach churn when she saw the blood spilling out and turned away from it, effectively facing Cato.

"How's your hand?" she asked grumpily.

"Great. Mainly cause I didn't have to take drugs to make it better." He shrugged, smiling at her.

She scowled at him and it made his smile grow larger.

"You can leave now. I don't need your help anymore." She snapped, even more annoyed at his teasing.

A brief hint of hurt flashed through his eyes.

"Yes you do." He said, almost accusingly.

She growled quietly and turned over again, staring at the ceiling. They remained in silence for a long time, longer than she could even keep track of. It wasn't until her vision swam and her body felt numb and aloof that she knew the morphling was working. She sat up and swung her legs over the bed.

"What are you doing?" Cato asked, standing up.

"The morphling is working. I can go home." she mumbled as she stood.

She stumbled a few steps and he caught her. She was happy to feel that no pain radiated from her ankle. Katniss tentatively stepped towards the door and then walked to it, Cato following her with his arms held out as if he would catch her as soon as she teetered. When they were in the hall, she whirled around and stared at him.

"I'm not impotent!" she hissed.

He froze and stared at her, shocked at what she said. Her face was screwed up, confused at what she just said.

"Incompetent! I'm not incompetent!" she exclaimed, realizing what she meant to say.

Cato busted out into laughter, doubling over at the waist at her confusion. It wasn't until he looked up that he saw Katniss stomping the other direction, smoke practically coming out of her ears.

"Wait! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you. That was just funny." He said, trotting next to her.

"I don't enjoy being made fun of." She said bitterly.

"You aren't kidding." He remarked quietly.

He knew she heard him when she fixed her famous scowl on him.

"Why are you still following me? I know my way home." she snapped.

"I think I want to make sure you don't pass out in the hallway from your morphling intake. It's powerful stuff." He shrugged.

"I know, my mom gave me some when I was little and broke my collarbone." She said, not sounding as hostile for a moment.

Then she suddenly turned to him.

"Coin said… she said… we kissed. A lot." Cato wasn't sure what Coin and them kissing had anything to do with anything.

"Ok?" he asked, wanting her to continue the thought.

Katniss stared at him, scrutinizing his face.

"Why do you kiss me?" she asked, turning to walk again.

Cato didn't know what to say. He continued to be silent until they reached her door. She turned to him, an imploring look on her face. She wasn't going to let him out of an answer that easily.

"Why?" she asked again.

"Let's go inside." he said, ushering her in.

The apartment was abandoned beside them two.

"Tell me." Katniss said, shoving him against the wall as soon as the door was closed.

"I don't know." He said.

"That's not good enough." She said icily, knowing that her sudden forwardness came from the morphling.

"What do you feel when we kiss? Do you feel indifferent? Do you feel anything towards me? Does it mean anything other than the fact that two of our body parts happen to be touching each other?" she demanded, getting closer and closer.

"I… I don't…" he was cut off by Katniss' lips on his, silencing his uncertainty.

"What do you feel?" she whispered before she continued to kiss him.

Then her lips left his, trailing to his jaw, then to his neck, his pulse point, collarbone, back up to his shoulder and then all the way up to his ear. When her teeth nipped at his earlobe, he let out a groan and pulled her away.

"Kantiss, what are you doing?" he asked, looking into her heavy, yet fiery eyes.

"Trying to make you feel something, emotionless boy." She murmured before continuing her gentle assault on his neck.

He didn't realize that she was pulling him back to the bedroom until they were already in there. When she tried to pull him onto the bed, he backed away.

"No, Katniss." He said, shaking his head.

"Why not? What do you feel, Cato?" she asked, tears filling her eyes at his sudden rejection.

She had no idea that the morphling would make her act this way. A part of her mind stored away the information to remind her to refuse the medicine at all costs in the future.

"Frustration! Are you happy? I feel frustrated. Because I don't know what I feel for you, Katniss. I don't know what I should feel and I definitely don't know what I feel. I am so drawn to you that it's ridiculous. I have an overwhelming need to protect you. To just envelop you in my arms and never let you escape them so that I can always protect you." He ranted.

Katniss stared at him, her eyes drooping again. This time, it wasn't out of lust. He could tell that she was exhausted.

"You need to sleep." He sighed, turning to the door.

"Cato." Her pitiful voice called, sounding small and weak.

He turned back to see her big, pleading eyes filled with tears. That killed him more than the fact that Coin was threatening her.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone… the nightmares." She whimpered, holding her hands out.

He stared at her hesitantly.

"I promise I won't try to get you to do anything again. I just don't want to be alone." She said, one lonely tear slipping down her face.

He knew that he couldn't resist her. As he climbed into the bed and she snuggled into his side, he began to think. What was going on? What was he feeling around this girl? It certainly wasn't the indifference that he knew that he should be feeling. She was making him react to her so strangely. It freaked him out and he didn't see any way that it would stop anytime soon. He knew that he would protect her from the evils of the world as much as he could. Because they were about to get involved with a giant, dangerous shitstorm. And he would not be letting anyone, not the Capitol, not President Snow, and not President Coin, put out her fire. Because Katniss was fire. They were synonymous now. And he felt it was now his duty, for his Katniss, to keep that fire burning.

**Author's Note: I know these chapters haven't been long. I've just been trying to parallel Katniss and Cato's need to protect each other. I also know that Katniss got a little OOC this chapter but that was on purpose. That's why I brought the morphling in. I wanted Cato to confront his own feelings and what they were for her. He's beginning to recognize that he feels for her. Review please! Please please please!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

The first thing that Katniss noticed as her mind was pulled out of its sleepy haze was giggling. Someone was giggling loudly. Not someone, someones. More than one person was laughing. Who was it? She couldn't quite place the amused voices. She began to feel around her for her surroundings, wondering why someone was laughing. The first thing she noticed was the dull throbbing of her ankle. Her hands wandered around the warm pillow beneath her. Why was it warm? Why was it moving? Why wasn't it very soft? The pillows here had feathers in them, why wasn't it feathery?

She jumped out of her skin when the pillow groaned and another hand caught her roaming one. The two people erupted into even more giggles.

"Who is laughing?" her pillow grumbled, shifting slightly.

"Make it stop." Katniss groaned, burying her head further into the warm surface.

The giggles simply got louder and higher pitched. Katniss finally opened her eyes to look around. The first thing that she noticed was that she was not on a pillow, but instead lying across Cato's body. No, it wasn't just her head on his chest. Her right leg was hitched over his thighs and her arms encircled his waist. Her chest was flush against his stomach. She was almost literally on top of him. His hands were on her waist, the hem of her dress clutched in them. Wait a minute; her dress… was by her waist. She froze, unsure of what to do. If she moved, surely Cato would notice that her underthings were blatantly showing if he didn't already know. They weren't under a blanket so she was sure that whoever was giggling, was laughing at her.

She was almost positive that her face could not get any redder than it was at that moment.

"Cato." She mumbled, trying to push herself off of him.

"No." he grunted, pulling her back down to his chest.

He was still half asleep. That's the excuse that she told herself.

"Cato, we have to move." She whispered, trying and failing to escape from his iron grip.

"Why?" he whined, burying his face in her hair.

"Because I'm pretty sure that there are little girls looking at us and we aren't exactly in the most appropriate position for young eyes." She said as quietly as she could.

Another eruption of giggles told her that she wasn't quiet enough.

She watched as one of Cato's eyes opened and he looked past her.

"You're right… about the little girls." He said, unsure of what to do.

"Cato…" Katniss cursed what she was about to say. "You are holding my dress up to my waist. They can see… my…." He suddenly looked amused and pulled her dress down slowly.

His eyes were sparkling with humor and his chest rumbled with the force of the laughter he was trying to control. She glared at him and pushed off of him as hard as she could, kneeling on the bed and turning to look at who their spectators were. It was a nightmare, she was sure of it. Because Prim, Rue, and Catri did not just see her using Cato as a mattress just now, right?

"How long have you been there?" she asked, her voice squeakier than she would have liked.

"For about ten minutes." Prim shrugged with a grin.

The other two girls erupted into giggles again.

"Out!" she said, pointing at the door.

The girls ran out, still laughing and taunting them. Katniss buried her head in her hands. She felt the bed shake as Cato continued to laugh as well. She lifted her head and glared at him.

"You. This is your fault." She accused.

"Excuse me? I'm not the one who practically begged you to come into the bed with them." Cato said, still grinning.

Katniss screwed up her eyebrows, trying to remember. She couldn't. She cursed the morphling.

"What else did I say?" she groaned, burying her head in her hands again.

His hands caught hers and pulled them away from her face. She looked up at him and saw him still smiling. This time not tauntingly.

"Nothing really." He shrugged, but she knew he was lying.

"Tell the truth." She said, pulling herself up on her knees so that she could be face to face with him.

"You didn't… say… much. I think you did try to get me to sleep with you." He shrugged.

Katniss blanched, unsure of what to say. Did he mean sleep as in what they were just doing? Or sleep as in… well… something that doesn't require much sleep? She tried to pull away from him but he kept her close.

"I knew you didn't really want to. I knew you would regret it if we did. I stopped it." he said softly, assuring her that nothing happened.

Katniss looked at him.

"Thank you." She murmured.

He grinned.

"We did do a lot of this, though." He said before pulling her to him and placing his lips on hers.

She responded in kind, kissing him just as passionately as he was kissing her. Suddenly the door slammed open and a shriek sounded.

"I knew it! Sugar time!" Glimmer exclaimed as they both looked at her with shock.

"No!" Katniss exclaimed, jumping away from Cato and, in the process, tumbling off of the bed.

"Son of a…!" Katniss began.

"Children!" Glimmer shouted.

Katniss glared at her and then saw Cato's head appear over the side of the bed to grin at her.

"How you doing?" he asked.

"Go to hell." She spat bitterly, trying to pull herself up.

He jumped off and helped her to her feet, ensuring that she didn't have to put too much weight on her injured ankle.

"I'm fine." She grumbled as he helped her out to the living room.

She blushed again when she saw the three younger girls sitting in the kitchen. Prim giggled a bit before standing up and handing her two little white pills and a glass of water. Katniss took them, still glaring around at everyone.

"Why are you in here?" she asked Glimmer, confused.

"They found me in the hall and asked me to come get you so that we could go somewhere." Glimmer shrugged.

"Where?" she asked, looking at Prim.

"It's a surprise. I know you'll like it." she said, jumping up with the other two girls.

"Sorry, Cato. You're not invited. Crucius and Ceporis are in the exercise area. You can join them." Catri said with a grin.

Katniss looked back at Cato with a helpless face as she was dragged out by Prim and Rue with Glimmer and Catri following them.

She limped down the hall among them, barely able to keep up with their quick conversation. Glimmer hooked elbows with Katniss.

"So… what's going on?" she asked with a grin.

"With what?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Are you kidding me? You and Cato? Are you… what? Dating? Friends? Friends with sex? What?" she asked, her grin growing bigger as she talked.

"We're not… sex. No sex." Katniss mumbled quietly, blushing once again.

"Then?" Glimmer asked.

"I don't know. We… we kiss. And we… cuddle, I guess. We haven't really done anything else and we haven't talked about it. I don't know what we are." She said quickly.

"Well honey you need to figure it out. Because from what I saw, you two are quite steamy." Glimmer giggled.

Katniss shook her head.

"I really just… don't want to think about it. There is so much going on." she said.

"Well… what do you feel for him?" she asked, serious this time.

"I… I like him. I feel like he is a much better person than he lets anyone believe. I see the good in him, I guess. Even when he can't see it for himself. I get a little excited when he comes into a room." Glimmer was grinning again by the end of it.

"Oh sweetie, you are in trouble." She giggled.

"What do you mean?" Katniss asked as she skipping ahead of her with Rue and Prim.

"Glimmer!" she shrieked.

"You'll figure it out." she shrugged, grinning at her over her shoulder.

Katniss bit her lip and shook her head before they reached a set of stairs and walked down them. They walked down three flights before they reached another level, a little less crowded but still with quite a few people. They finally reached a metal door.

"It's to keep the special air in needed for the environment." Prim explained before she pushed the door open.

Katniss gasped as they stepped in. It was beautiful. The ceiling was clear and made to look like sun was shining through it just like in the forest room. Men and women in khaki pants and white shirts were wandering around tending to the thousands of bright flowers and plants that made up the wondrous garden. Benches were everywhere and the room had to be at least a hundred yards both ways.

"Wow." Glimmer sighed, her eyes sparkling as she looked upon the flowers.

"Look!" Prim grabbed Katniss's hand to drag her over to a specific few flowers.

"I thought this was really coincidental." She said, pointing at the three flowers that grew amongst each other.

It was katniss flowers, primrose flowers, and camellia flowers all mingled together.

"For you, me, and mom." Katniss whispered, bending down to touch them softly.

"But look." Prim bent down and brushed them out of the way to point at a silver plaque in the dirt.

_Leonis Everdeen donated the funds for these flowers in honor of his family that remains in District 12. Camellia Everdeen, his wife, and Katniss and Primose Everdeen, his daughters._

Tears sprung to Katniss' eyes.

"He told me that he would come here every night because being around these flowers were the only way that he could really feel close to us." Prim said, taking Katniss' hand.

She smiled and nodded, feeling tears running down her face. She hugged Prim close to her for a moment before getting up to walk around the rest of the garden. When she was studying a few different colors of roses, she felt a small hand tugging on her dress. She looked around to see Catri standing there, smiling at her.

"Cato likes you." She informed her.

Katniss stared at her with surprise.

"Really?" she asked.

"Mmhmm. He also likes gardens. Our mother used to keep a garden in her backyard and he would help her when he wasn't training. I didn't invite him because I wondered if you would want to bring him here. At night, the door is unlocked but no one really comes here." She said.

Katniss was even more shocked. This girl seemed far more knowledgeable than she should have been at seven-years-old. Catri grinned widely and then skipped off to Prim and Rue. She left Katniss wondering exactly how everyone else could see more in her and Cato's relationship than she could. Was there even a relationship to speak of? Or were they just kissing? She resolved, in that moment, to discover this before he left for the army base. Because if she was going to protect him from Coin's threats, she had to know exactly what she was protecting.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked it. Next chapter is going to be quite serious. Katniss is going to have to face the fact that she lied to Cato about who Coin threatened to get her to stay. Someone is going to stir up trouble and she is going to find herself in an uncomfortable situation with someone that she really doesn't want to be alone with. Review please! Please please please! **


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss made sure that Prim saw when she slipped out of the garden. She arrived at her family's apartment minutes later to find that her father was collapsed on their couch looking exhausted with his eyes closed. It was still strange seeing him, as if he were an apparition that would disappear into a cloud of smoke any minute. She walked in quietly and to one of the armchairs. She didn't realize just how quiet her tread was until her father jerked up into a sitting position when her weight shifted the springs in the chairs.

"Sorry." She mumbled quickly.

He looked surprised for a moment before shrugging.

"It's ok. I probably shouldn't sleep right now. I won't…" he was cut off.

"You won't sleep at night if you do. I remember. Your body is stubborn." Katniss finished for him, remembering all the times he ranted about it.

He nodded wearily and laid back, keeping his eyes open this time.

"Prim took me to the garden. I saw the flowers you donated." Katniss paused as his eyes stared into hers.

They looked so much like hers. He looked so much like her.

"They're beautiful." she whispered.

"I did them for you. And for you mother and sister. In the hopes that you would see them one day and know that I didn't want to abandon you. That I missed you so terribly that it broke my heart. You tell me that your mother was nearly catatonic with depression. I wasn't any better." He said.

"I understand that you felt pain as well. But… as much as this wasn't your choice, it still hurt us all. We almost died because you were gone. I don't want to hurt you but do you understand why it's hard for me to forgive you? Why it's hard for me to pretend like nothing happened?" Katniss asked.

He nodded.

"You're angry at your mother, too." He acknowledged.

"Because she's eager to pretend like the past five years never happened. She forgave you so quickly and now expects me to do the same. She almost didn't survive without you. If it hadn't been for me and my hunting, she would have withered away. I survived. I was strong and I kept her and Prim alive. She doesn't want to remember the way she abandoned her daughters just like I'm sure you don't want to remember that you did the same." She ranted.

"Your sister has forgiven me too." He said.

"Prim was seven when you disappeared. She is only twelve now. She needs to forgive you for the sake of her forgiving nature. I know that Prim is happy now that you're here and that's enough for me when it comes to her. I just want Prim to be happy." Katniss said softly.

"I never did thank you, for protecting them both. You did so amazing at keeping all three of you alive and mostly well. You are an amazing young lady, Katniss." He said, sitting up and looking deep into her eyes.

"If that's true, I have you to thank. I have you to thank for surviving these past five years. You taught me how to hunt. I have you to thank for surviving the Games, you taught me how to wield the bow as a weapon, not just a food source." Katniss said.

"You also have me to thank for almost starving to death. You're right, Katniss. You have every right to be angry with me for the rest of your life. I abandoned you and there is no excuse that can make that better." He said.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life hating you. I just can't forgive you right now." Katniss sighed before getting up and walking to her room.

She quickly changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. A few minutes later, Prim came in and curled up against her, just like old times. Katniss smiled slightly and hugged her sister to her before falling asleep. When she woke up in, what she assumed was, the morning, she noticed that Prim was already gone. She got up and showered quickly, this time leaving her hair down to dry into its natural curls. She put on a simple pair of soft grey cotton pants and a dark blue loose long sleeved shirt with a pair of simple running shoes. Then she walked out to see her family eating breakfast with a place set for her. She smiled at Prim and ruffled her hair when she sat down. She surprised herself by actually taking part in the conversation and was happy that it wasn't all that awkward.

A knock on the door surprised them as they were cleaning up. Katniss shrugged and walked to it. When it opened, she looked up into what was currently her favorite face.

"We need to talk." He said.

Katniss felt a strange sense of foreboding as she bid her family goodbye and walked out with Cato.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To that forest thing again." He said simply.

He didn't reach back to hold her hand. He didn't even look at her. Something was wrong. When they reached the room, he hesitated, looking around suspiciously. Then he went inside and she followed hesitantly.

"Cato, what is going on?" she asked as soon as the door was closed.

He sighed and leaned against a tree. There was silence for several minutes in which her panic level rose.

"My father doesn't want me to see you anymore." He said.

Katniss stared at his back, processing what he said.

"Oh." Was all she could think of to say.

He turned to look at her, an indistinguishable look on his face. Then he started for her and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her off of her feet, before he pressed his lips to her softly. She responded in kind, threading her fingers through her hair and even daring to wrap her legs around him. It felt so strange, she'd never been quite this close to a human being, much less one of the opposite sex, unless it was her father.

"I told him to go to hell." Cato mumbled after he pulled away, pressing his forehead against hers.

"You didn't have to do that." she whispered, thinking of the many problems that would cause in their household.

"He threatened Catri and Ceporis. I couldn't let him do that. I told him to get the hell out of our apartment. I said that if he came back, I would report him to the proper authorities for violence. I've heard they don't do well with that here because it happens enough back in the Districts." Katniss doubted what he was saying but didn't correct him.

She didn't think that Coin would do much about violence. She was too violent to care.

"And?" she asked.

"He packed his bag and left. My mom was upset but Ivory and Crucius are calming her down. I had to leave because I was far too fucking pissed to deal with anything. I felt bad, but I had to get rid of him." he sounded as though he were convincing himself more than anything.

"I know. You did the right thing. You couldn't just put up with him threatening your little siblings. I understand." She murmured, soothing him.

He nodded and kissed her again.

"Thank you." He whispered as he set her down on her feet and pulled her to a log to sit down next to him.

"Cato… I need to ask. I know that it's been such a whirlwind. Just a week ago, I was preparing myself to have to kill. I was seeing you as my number one enemy. I was focused on one thing, getting home to Prim. Now, it's all changed. You are… just amazing now. You're so kind and… a really good kisser." She said, blushing deeply.

He chuckled lightly.

"I see you with your family and you are so fantastic with them. All of them. And you are even protective of me. But I need to know what we are. Are we just friends who kiss? Are we… more?" she asked.

His eyes widened and he looked at the ground.

"I… what are we to you?" he asked in return.

She realized how difficult it was of a question when she thought about it.

"I don't wanna be friends. Not just friends." she said automatically.

He looked up at her and a smile broke out on his face.

"I don't either." He replied.

She smiled back and they just sat there, basking in the glory of what they just admitted to each other.

"Who do we tell?" he asked suddenly, looking at her.

"Well… Glimmer knows. I'm guessing Prim, Catri, and Rue have a good idea. Our families… probably have somewhat of an inkling. But I don't know." She shrugged.

"I have an idea." He said with sparkling eyes.

"What idea?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm not telling you. But it'll be great." He said with a wide grin.

Katniss, once again, felt a sense of foreboding. But it was instantly squashed by her happiness when Cato gathered her in his arms and kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. He was a really good kisser.

**Author's Note: There you go. They've spoken. Next chapter, Cato's plan goes into effect and Katniss begins her training. It's not the kind of training that she thought it would be though. Review please! Please please please!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss inhaled deeply, walking into the cafeteria with shaking hands. She knew that Cato was planning something and she knew that it would be public. What was more public than dinner time in a cafeteria full of everyone that they knew? Prim was chattering on beside her about how much she loved having Rue and Catri as friends. She caught sight of a broad, muscular back standing and she froze. When he turned around, she sighed with relief that it was just Crucius. But a chill ran down her back when she saw him nudge Cato, who was sitting down and amusing Laurel who was in his mother's arms.

He looked up and back at Katniss, who stood like a deer facing the tip of an arrow with wide eyes. He stood slowly and grinned at her. She quickly hurried off with Prim. Did they really have to do this so publicly? Why couldn't they just post it on the doors of the entire place? That would work, right? She felt herself already blushing with embarrassment as she went through the line with Prim. Her stomach was churning dangerously so she didn't get any food.

"Prim?" she asked, her voice unnaturally high.

"Mmhmm?" she asked, concentrated on the food she was balancing on a tray.

"How would you feel… um… if I had a… kind of a… boy… guy… person in my life?" she asked, cursing her stammering.

Prim looked at her with a smile.

"You mean a boyfriend?" she asked teasingly.

Katniss nodded, swallowing hard.

"I'd be happy for you." She shrugged, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

The older girl blanched and looked around nervously, her conversation with Prim not making her feel any better. As they were walking to the table where their parents sat next to Rue's family, Prim nudged her.

"Uh, Katniss. You have a really big body barreling at you." She said, obviously giggling a little.

Katniss whirled around and saw Cato heading for her. There was no escape. He was smirking. He had her caught. She still stumbled back a few steps. Her heart was pounding. Her body was shaking nervously. When he was only ten feet away from her, she got the sudden urge to run away. It was too late. She was gathered in his arms all of the sudden. His lips were pressed against hers and she forgot everything. She forgot where she was and why she was so nervous. Because when his lips were moving in synch with hers, everything was perfect.

When she finally paid attention to something else, she heard a loud wolf whistle and knew exactly who it was. Several gasps and mumbles surrounded them, as they pulled apart. Their eyes flickered open and she stared at him with surprised, as he simply looked amused and pleased.

"I guess everyone knows now." She whispered.

"I guess so." He said with a wide grin, looking as happy as can be.

She finally brought herself to look past him at her family. Prim looked thrilled, her mother surprised, and her father a little annoyed and even angry.

A glance at Cato's family showed all of them grinning and she felt better. But then she felt two angry eyes boring into her head. Gale. She knew before she looked but when she did, her suspicions were correct. He was pissed. She shot him a sympathetic look before Cato dragged her off to the table where her family sat. It was an awkward and uncomfortable meal for Katniss. Cato seemed perfectly happy. She kept imagining that people were staring at her but realistically no one was even looking her way. No one cared. Cato held onto her hand soothingly, rubbing his thumb against the back of it. After a while, it did serve to calm her down and she relaxed a little. But then one glance at her parents told her that they would be having a talk that night and that she would not like it.

When they left the cafeteria, still hand in hand, and headed to her apartment to talk a little on their own, Katniss was shaking again. Why? She had no idea. When they reached the apartment, she instantly went to the bathroom. But something stopped her. A white piece of paper on her pillow. She walked to the pillow and picked it up. It had her name written on it in an elegant scrawl. Katniss ripped the paper open and chills ran throughout her entire body as she read it.

_Dear Ms. Everdeen,_

_I have already heard of your display in the dining hall. I must say it is surprising. You and Mr. Selkirke should be careful. It would be a shame if someone took your relationship as a threat and did something to end it. His father does not seem to be a fan of yours. Remember our deal, Katniss. Your loyalty for his life. I will not stand for deception on your part or his. _

_May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor,_

_ -AC_

Katniss felt herself trembling even more. This letter was supposed to tell her two things. One, President Coin was not playing games when she threatened Cato. Two, she could get into Katniss' apartment whenever she wanted, which mean that she could get into anyone else's apartment at any time. She wasn't sure which message terrified her more. She dropped the note on the floor and went to the bathroom to calm down. She thought of the many people she put in danger just by breathing. Cato, Prim, her mother, her father, Cato's family, everyone. Everyone who was around her. Everyone who had so much as a single tie to her. She brought danger to everyone who touched her like she carried some sort of disease.

She shuddered once and then began to stop shaking. If she just did what Coin asked, if she just went along with the rebellion and supported it, everyone would be safe. She didn't have anything to worry about. She was completely convinced of that until she walked out of the bathroom to see Cato staring at something in his hand. He was trembling too, but she knew it wasn't from fear. No, Cato was pissed. He was angry and all of that anger was directed at her.

"Cato, wait…" she said, putting her hands up.

"What the hell is this, Katniss?" he demanded.

"I can explain." She said pleadingly, wishing beyond anything that this wasn't happening.

He wasn't supposed to know about this. He was never supposed to find out.

"Then explain." He said through gritted teeth.

"I… she… I…" she stuttered, not sure of exactly what to say.

"Why didn't you tell me what she was threatening you with? Why did you lie to me when I asked? why didn't you tell me that she was using me against you? This, against you?" he growled, gesturing between them.

"Because I knew you would react like this. I knew you would want to kill her and I was afraid that you would do something reckless and get yourself hurt. I was protecting you." She replied in a soft voice, afraid of his reaction.

"Well thank you, Katniss. I so appreciate you protecting me." he said, fully sarcastic.

This got her back up and she glared at him.

"So you get to protect me but I don't get to do the same? You get to rant and rave about how you _have_ to keep me safe but I'm not allowed to keep you safe? Why are you so special, Cato?" she spat.

"I never lied to you about. I never lied to you." He said with a shake of his head.

"Well aren't you saintly?" she said icily, rolling her eyes and turning away from him, unable to look at him.

She didn't expect this to be his reaction. Yes, she'd lied to him. But with good reason.

"Seriously? You just turn away from me? Is that how you end an argument?" he said, laughing humorlessly.

She whirled around and glared at him. She hated being laughed at when she was angry. She stomped up to him and slapped him across his amused face.

"Fuck you, Cato." She growled, turning to walk out the door.

She was whirled around and pushed against the wall, making her head swim a little. Cato's angry eyes glared down at her and an angry red mark was already blossoming on his cheek. Katniss felt her hand stinging but ignored it as she glowered back at him.

"Let me go." she demanded.

"You can't make me." he scoffed, pressing himself closer to her.

"I swear, I will scream as loud as I can." She threatened, putting her hands against his chest and attempting to push him away.

It was a pitiful attempt and he smirked at her. She was itching to slap him again, but this time she resisted the urge.

"I don't want to talk you right now. So let me go." she demanded, feeling some of her old, angry self coming back.

She'd been so… happy… lately that it felt strange.

"Why did you lie to me?" he demanded.

"To protect you! Like I said!" she shouted, struggling against his unbreakable grip.

"What gave you the right to protect me?" he roared, all of the sudden furious, his hands gripping her wrists painfully.

Katniss stared at him with wide eyes, seeing a hint of the old Cato. The one who hunted children for sport. The one who the Capitol formed. And it terrified her more than Coin ever could.

"Please let go of me." she said in a small voice, cursing herself for betraying her fear.

His eyes widened as he thought of what he just did. He pulled his hands away from her as if he was burned and she slid away from him, backing up while not taking her eyes off of him. She knew that it was ridiculous but her body had all of the sudden gone into survival mode. She knew that he wouldn't be able to completely rid himself of his training but she'd fooled herself into thinking that it would be dormant for a long time. She felt her entire body trembling with fear and it screamed at her to run away. Her eyes flashed to the door and back, but he was in between her and the door staring at her with wide eyes.

"Katniss I…" he stopped talking when she stumbled away from him quicker, pressing herself against the wall.

She scanned the room for any weapons. What would she do if he became angry again? What would she do if he attacked her? Why was she so terrified of him at that moment when a few minutes ago she was holding hands with him acting like everything was perfect? He stepped towards her and she let out a whimper at the same time that she came to a realization. Her mind stopped preparing to defend herself and gave up. In that moment, she realized something. She would rather die than hurt him.

* * *

Cato was panicking. He didn't know what to do. Katniss was sitting on the bed staring at the ground as tears ran down her face. She'd stopped fighting and just sat there. every once in a while, she would let out a sob of what he thought was misery.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to comfort me?" she screamed, hitting her fist on the side of the bed.

His eyes opened even wider in shock and he went to sit beside her slowly. She threw her arms around him and began sobbing heavily and speaking at the same time. He could only make out every few words.

"I'm… sorry… lied… you. I… protect… you… family… Catri… Laurel… Crucius. Coin… mockingbird… rebellion… protect… had to… don't… mad… at me." she wailed.

He hushed her, feeling all of his feelings of anger going away. If it had been him, would he have done any differently? Would he have even hesitated to protect Katniss and her family? He knew the answer and that was why he decided that he could no longer be angry with her. He told her as much once she stopped crying and she was completely relieved. But once they walked out of the bedroom, the sight in front of them made Katniss groan with emotional and physical exhaustion. She really did not want to deal with Gale.

"I would like to talk to you alone." He said, glaring openly at Cato.

"I'm afraid that's not an option." Cato said, moving closer to Katniss.

"It's ok, Cato. I was expecting this. He deserves to have a talk with me." Katniss said.

Cato looked between them, alternating between a glare and a concerned look. She nodded and shooed him out the door, promising to find him later. Then she walked to the couch and waited for Gale to join her, to sit down. It didn't happen. He stood stubbornly in the middle of the living room.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" she replied.

"Why him, Catnip? What did he do to warrant your affections? What did he do to win your heart? Is that how a guy wins you over, he tries to kill you first?" Gale demanded.

"First of all, Cato never actually personally tried to kill me. Sure, he threatened me but that's just the games. I threatened to kill him too. Second of all, I chose Cato because I feel something for him. Because we grew close out of extenuating circumstances and now we actually somewhat like each other. I think." Katniss said.

"That display in the cafeteria made me think that you do more than like each other. It looks like you are just fucking around to me." Gale growled.

Katniss jumped up with a glare and crossed the room, fully ready to slap him across his arrogant, asshole face. His hand caught her wrist before it could connect with his face. Then he did something she never expected. He drew her in and kissed her. It wasn't like Cato's kisses at all. They were soft but still passionate. They were inviting, not forceful. But Gale's… they weren't sweet at all. They didn't give the impression that he cared about her at all. They just seemed like he was trying to dominate her. As she tried to squirm away from him, his tongue forced its way between her lips. Luckily, she had her wits about her and was able to bite down, hard.

"What the hell, Katniss?" he demanded as he pulled away, blood running down his chin.

"I could ask you the same fucking question! How dare you kiss me? Get the hell out of here, Gale. And don't come back. You know I'm not available." She snapped.

"Why him, Katniss? Why not me? We've been… for so many years! I thought you felt the same way!" he said, sounding a little hurt.

"Well obviously I didn't, Gale. I would like it if you left before I have to go find Cato and get him to throw you out." she snapped.

Gale glared at her for a moment before stomping out. She sighed and collapsed on the couch. Moments later, another person opened the door.

"Oh for goodness…!" she sighed, turning to see who it was.

"So your day has been eventful." Glimmer said with a grin.

**Author's Note: Hope you liked it! Cato and Katniss' first (sorta) fight. Gale's bad guy moment. Coin proving she's a giant bitch. Review please! Please please please!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

"You… bit him?" Glimmer asked, her perfectly shaped eyebrow arched.

"He kissed me without my permission. I'm not that strong in case you haven't noticed. How else was I supposed to stop the mouth rape from happening?" Katniss shrugged.

They were curled up on the couch facing each other and Katniss felt strange about it, like they were two normal people gossiping about ridiculous things. That was basically what was happening, except they weren't normal. Glimmer was a trained killer and Katniss was the face of the rebellion.

"You should tell Cato." She said.

"Why would I do that? I'd instantly have to tell him not to kill Gale. I get the feeling that he is quite possessive." Katniss said, rolling her eyes.

"You would have to keep him from stomping right out and wringing that pig's neck. But I know exactly how. You say, 'I can still feel him. It's disgusting, like he's still forcing me to kiss him. I need you to make me forget'. Then you bat your eyelashes a little. First, he'll be a puddle of goo, second, he'll kiss you like crazy until you both can't breath, and third, he'll forget that he ever wanted to kill Gale once you're done with that kiss. So no only do you get an amazing kiss from an amazingly hot kisser, you get to keep your so-called 'best friend' alive." Glimmer shrugged.

Katniss thought about it for a moment. It wasn't like her to do anything like that. She wasn't a 'bat her lashes' type of girl. But she did like Cato's kisses. Knowing her, though, she would probably look like an idiot and he would dissolve into knee-slapping laughter.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." She said uncomfortably after imagining herself falling short of being innocent and seductive at the same time.

Glimmer shook her head and stood.

"I have to get back to my family. They'll be waiting for the latest chapter in the saga of Cato and Katniss." She said dramatically before she skipped to the door.

She opened it to reveal her parents about to walk in. After introducing herself and then bidding them goodbye, she was left alone with them. She knew exactly what that meant. It was time to talk.

* * *

The talk was more painful than she ever could have imagined. Her parents ran the talk into the ground, talking and talking about how she should be sure about this. About dating someone from District 2. They said it wouldn't be easy. They had to deal with enough prejudice back in District 12 and they were just from different areas of the same district. She sat there barely listening, itching to run out of there so she didn't have to listen to what they were lecturing her about. When they finished, she told them, in no uncertain terms, that it was her relationship and her decision. They agreed and that was that. It was officially up to her and she knew exactly what, and who, she wanted.

At that moment, she was pacing the empty garden. Catri was right, it was completely empty. There was only a few lights lit up and it was very peaceful. So when she heard footsteps behind her, she froze and waited for the inevitable attack. It never came. She turned slowly and saw Cato walking towards her. She instantly smiled, feeling safe all of the sudden.

"How was the rest of your day?" she asked.

"My mom and Ivory couldn't stop talking about our kiss. They are very excited. How was your talk with Dale?" he asked gruffly.

"It's Gale. And it… well… it was ok." Katniss shrugged, chickening out at the last second.

But he wasn't fooled, he knew there was something she wasn't telling him.

"Tell me." He demanded.

"Tell you what?" Katniss asked innocently.

Well, as innocently as she could. But Cato was far too smart to be fooled by her faked indifference.

"What you aren't telling me about your talk with Gale." He said, stepping closer to her so that he was towering over her.

"Well… he's not a big fan of yours." She said simply.

Cato snorted.

"I think that he hasn't made a secret of that. He hates me." he said, gesturing for her to keep going.

"He wanted to know why I chose you." She said, looking up at him.

"And what did you say?" he asked.

"I said that I had feelings for you, feelings that I didn't quite control, that just started. And the Games change people. I grew closer to you in very extreme conditions. We both went through that and… well it must have brought us closer right?" she asked, not knowing if she was relaying the story or asking for confirmation.

Cato's look softened a bit and he nodded.

"Well, he didn't like that answer. He said that… it seemed more like we were just having sex. I got angry and went to hit him. I was really angry." Katniss said, thinking that if she just hadn't hit him, he wouldn't have kissed her.

But she'd seen a look in his eyes from the moment he was in the room. He planned on it, on kissing her. He knew that he was going to do it. A tear slipped down her cheek and she all of the sudden could feel him on her again. She felt dirty, as if she had been somehow cheating on Cato even though she hadn't been a willing participant. Now, he might leave her for it if she told him. Would he be so angry that he couldn't even stand the sight of her?

"Katniss?" he asked, panicking at the sudden tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She cried.

"For what?" Cato asked, putting his hands on her cheeks and forcing her to look at him.

"He… he kissed me. I tried to fight against him. I'm not that strong, as you know. I t-tried. Finally I bit down on his tongue and he pulled away. I told him once and for all that we would not be together, never ever. He was angry but I threatened to find you to get you to throw him out so he left. I'm so sorry, Cato. I didn't want to kiss him." she sobbed, clutching at his arms.

He looked angry, that was clear. But she couldn't figure out who the anger was directed at. Her or Gale?

"Please don't be angry with me. I tried to fight him off." She wailed, not knowing why she felt so desperate to keep him with her.

Cato lifted his eyes to look at her.

"I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with that fucker who dared to touch my girl." he growled.

Katniss felt a warm feeling rush through her when he said that she was his. Suddenly what Glimmer said popped in her head. She wanted him to kiss her at that moment, but she didn't want to be quite so dramatic and girly. That just wasn't her.

"Make me forget." Was all she whispered before she leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated! I'm actually in Belize on a mission trip and I've had a really hard time connecting to the wifi at our hotel. I will try to update as often as possible. Let me know what you think.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

Katniss looked around, feeling ruffled but entirely pleased. They had somehow collapsed to the path in between the peonies and the tomato plants.

"Did I help?" Cato asked, sounding as dazed as she was.

"Help what?" she murmured, turning to look at him.

They had the same look in their eyes, need. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I guess I did." he said, smiling at her.

She blushed as she remembered why she wanted to kiss him in the first place. The kiss had turned into a very passionate, very heavy drawn out session. Not that she minded, not one bit.

"I'm still going to kill Gale." he threatened, narrowing his eyes at her but with a light tone of voice.

She let out a short laugh. "Of course you are." she nodded, stroking his cheek.

"Do they have cameras in here?" Cato asked, sounding suddenly angry.

"Catri told me they didn't, like the forest." Katniss waved off, not responding to his anger.

When he didn't calm down, she looked up at him from where she was lying with her head on his chest.

"What is it?" she asked, sitting up.

He shook his head and softly pushed her off of him before he stood up and began pacing.

"Cato?" she asked, alarmed by his sudden change in demeanor.

She thought that he would be as happy as her. She even thought that he was happy for a few moments. Now, he was pissed. He just growled in response, glaring around at the room.

"What's wrong?" she asked, stumbling forward and touching his arm.

"I'm tired. I'm tired of being watched. I had enough of that in District 2 and the Capitol. I'm tired of someone dictating my every move. I had enough of that in the Academy. I'm tired of people threatening me and my family, I had enough of that with my father!" he shouted at the end.

Katniss stared at him, taken aback. She felt the exact same way as him but was unsure why it was all coming out now. When he turned and looked at her, he mistakenly took her wide eyes and hesitant demeanor to mean fear and his fury instantly disappeared.

"I'm sorry. Dammit! I promised myself that I wouldn't scare you anymore. I hate that you ever have a reason to be afraid of me. I hate that you saw me at my worst!" he said, sounding anguished and full of hate pointed at himself.

She stumbled forward and reached out to touch him, hurt and disappointed when he flinched away.

"I'm not scared of you! Not even a little bit! I agree with everything you're saying but I was just surprised that you were saying all of it. I was wondering why it you were all of the sudden getting angry about it." she said, reaching out again and cupping his face with her hands.

His hands reached up and covered hers, his eyes closing as he breathed slowly.

"I've been feeling it for a while. I've just been keeping it closed away so that I didn't blow up like this." He said.

"Well that was the wrong thing to do. If you want to keep yourself from exploding, you have to share things like this with someone you trust. Your mother, your brother. Clove." Katniss said soothingly, her thumbs stroking his temples softly.

It felt just like she was comforting Prim after she had a particularly bad nightmare or something.

"You." He whispered.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"I'll share it with you. I want you to be the person I trust. You are already the person I trust." He murmured before pulling her into him, her cheek pressing into his broad chest and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"We should get to bed." Katniss mumbled a few minutes later as they separated from their embrace.

As much as she hated it, she knew that they needed their sleep after all that had happened to them in the past week. Her heart had swelled when he said that she was the person he wanted to talk to about his feelings. Because she knew that he didn't just share them with anyone. She was special to him and that was the best news to her at that moment.

* * *

She was awoken by an unwelcome noise that she hadn't heard in a while. She knew that the heels clicking across the floor could not possibly be her mother or Prim. They did not wear such shoes. There was only one person she knew who did. When her door slammed open, she groaned loudly and turned over, burying her face in the pillow.

"Up up up! It's a big big big day!" Effie said, sounding pleased as can be.

"Go away Effie!" Katniss growled, slamming her fist into the bed.

"Now remember manners. You must be nice to people if you want them to be nice to you." The infuriating woman reminded her.

She lifted her head to curse her escort out, a trait she was quickly picking up from Cato, when her mouth dropped open. This was not the Effie she knew. Her dress was obviously a Cinna creation. It was all one color, a soft light aquamarine. It came to just above her knees and had a loose, flowing skirt with a tight bodice. A golden belt matched her outrageously tall heels. But what shocked her the most was her face and hair. Her make up wasn't ridiculous, simply a muted gold on her eyelids and a light pink gloss on her lips. Her hair wasn't covered by a crazy colored wig. Her soft golden curls fell around her shoulders and down her back.

"Wow, Effie. You look…" Katniss trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Absolutely horrendous. Do you know how I feel without a wig on my head? I feel light! I couldn't imagine living like this before!" she said, shaking her head as her shiny curls caught the light perfectly.

"No, you look good. I mean really good. You should keep this look. Cinna knows what he's doing." Katniss nodded.

"Well because of you and your friends he's been focusing on a thousand different things that aren't me! I had to come up with all of this myself! He didn't get me near enough make up to look good." Effie said.

She decided not to tell the woman that she looked better this way. It would probably damage her beyond repair.

"What has Cinna been doing? I haven't seen him in a while either." Katniss said, slipping out of bed.

"Preparing for the propo you'll be shooting with the other tributes. It's a big deal, your coming out to the Capitol. They think you are dead, if you remember." Effie reminded her.

"Oh, yeah." She said dumbly.

"Let's go now. Your prep team is waiting for you." She said, turning to the door.

"Can't I change?" Katniss asked, trailing behind her.

"You're about to take it all off, darling." Effie said simply.

When they arrived three floors down at a room with a metal door in a dark hallway, Katniss half expected to see some torture chamber behind it. Little did she know, she wasn't far off. But instead of being dastardly and terrifying, it was a bright white torture chamber with shiny happy Capitol torturers in it. Octavia, Flavus, and Venia were bouncing on their feet with big smiles.

"You look horrible!" was their first reaction before they stripped her down and wrestled her into the chair.

And so began the grueling removal of all of the hair below her eyebrows. It hadn't grown that much but apparently it still showed. Then Flavus conditioned the crap out of her hair, making it shine. When they were done, Katniss grumbled as she pulled on a robe. Finally, Cinna coming in raised her spirits a bit.

"What torturous outfit do you have for me today?" she asked with a wry grin.

"You'll love it." he said with a wink before he pulled it out of the hanging bag.

It was an outfit very similar to her normal hunting outfit. Only the pants were tight fitting and black and the shirt was a bright blue color. When he brought out the last two items, she gasped with happiness. The first was her old hunting boots. They looked so familiar and she was very glad that they were there. The second was her father's hunting jacket. It had been altered, she could tell. It was smaller and more likely to fit her better. Her gold mockingjay pin was displayed proudly on the dark jacket.

After staring at it for a while, she realized something about the shirt. It was the exact color of Cato's eyes. She looked at Cinna with surprise to see him wink. Then she quickly slipped into all of the clothes and Cinna rushed her to the mirror. She looked like herself, which felt like a relief. Then he sat her in a chair and made quick work of braiding her hair in its familiar side braid. There was no make up on her face, which she preferred enormously over the thick powders coating her face.

A knock on the door made her and Cinna both face it and he nodded.

"It's time." he said, opening the door.

Katniss started to walk through it when she was faced with a bouquet of the flowers of her name. Peeking through them was a pair of mischievous sea green eyes.

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think! Thank you for sticking with me through this. I know I haven't been updating every day like I really want to. I will be back to that next week, I promise. Review please! Please please please!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**I decided to do a chapter in Crucius' point of view, just to sort of get another POV on Katniss and Cato, mainly Cato. One of my many wonderful reviewers, Kilani Heals, gave me the idea. Hope you like it.**

**Crucius POV**

His brother had changed. He knew it the first second he saw him come in with Katniss. He was used to the brutal Cato that the Academy brought out. He was used to the arrogant Cato that seemed to always be a part of his personality. He was used to the kind Cato that he would see around their little siblings. But what he had never seen was Cato in love. It brought out a whole new side of him that Crucius didn't even know existed. For a while, Crucius thought that Cato would grow up to be a carbon copy of their father. It terrified him and he knew that it terrified their mother.

Crucius once feared that he would become his father. As much as it angered him when it happened, getting his back broken was the best thing that happened to him. First of all, he never went into the Games. Second of all, he met Ivory and married her. Third of all, it gave him a new chance at life without the guilt of having killed people. He hadn't seen it yet, but he knew that it would eventually happen with his brother. He was going to have to face the fact that five children died at his hands. It didn't matter that the Capitol bred him to kill. The guilt was eventually going to catch up with him. Crucius prayed that someone was there to help him through it from the moment that he saw his brother kill the first child.

His prayers were answered in the form of Katniss Everdeen. When he first saw her reaping, he was already predicting that she would be trouble.

_Ivory didn't want to watch the reaping. It terrified her from the moment that she found out that she was pregnant with Laurel. But they were forced to by their father. He always wanted to take bets with Crucius on who would die first. Before his accident, Crucius was glad to do so. Now he thought it disgusting but he still went along with it for the sake of peace. So there they were, after it was all over and Cato was hurtling towards the Capitol on a train, watching the reapings. District after district, his father would look at him. Crucius had an easy time picking which tributes would die in what order. His father never said a word, one by one. District one. Dead. District two. Not dead, hopefully. District 3. Dead. It went on and on. Until District 12. The first girl reaped, a twelve-year-old. Dead._

_Then a voice rang out, shocking him and the rest of his family. There were no volunteers in District 12. It just didn't happen. When the camera focused on her, Crucius handed Laurel to Ivory and leaned forward._

"_She won't die." He said automatically._

_His father's eyes narrowed._

"_She might survive past the bloodbath. She's lean enough to be a runner. Though skin and bones, she probably won't live past the first night." Her father said, waiting for Crucius to agree with him._

"_No, she won't die." He said, absolutely sure of it._

_Suddenly his father jumped up and glared at him._

"_Cato will win." He growled._

"_Cato will live." Crucius agreed._

"_They can't both live." His mother said gently, patting his hand._

Crucius was very grateful when the rebels showed up at their door and whisked them off to District 13. Unfortunately, they had to sedate his father to do so as he was adamant about staying exactly where he was. Crucius was thrilled when he heard about the rebellion. His daughter and his little siblings were no longer in danger. But when Cato came back from the meeting with the President of the rebellion, he was quite angry.

_Crucius winced when Cato's hand slammed into door loudly. It didn't even break his skin. It seemed that his whole body was too stubborn for that. He began shouting about how the President didn't have any right to send him off. He wasn't under her control and that shouldn't have to happen. He was upsetting Laurel, Catri, and Ceporis so Crucius carted him off._

"_You know it's better than being here with Dad." He said as they began to walk back to their apartment._

"_Yeah." Cato said sullenly._

"_And you'll be with your girl." Crucius said with a grin._

"_No, I won't. Coin is keeping her here for some reason. She threatened our families." Cato growled._

"_Well, that's something that is not a good idea." He remarked, knowing how fiercely protective Cato was of his siblings and his mother._

"_I hate the Capitol, you know that. And I can't wait until all of them burn." Cato growled._

_Crucius laughed at the subtle hint about the Girl on Fire._

"_But I really can't wait until this bitch Coin is taken down a few notches. If she thinks that Katniss is just going to bend to her will she is wrong." Cato said, unconsciously rubbing his knuckles where he punched the door._

"_You really like her, don't you?" Crucius asked._

_Cato flushed a little as they approached their door again._

"_Aw my little brother so grown up!" he said, ruffling Cato's hair._

_They both shoved each other and guffawed as they walked through the door and were greeted with the sight of Katniss with Ivory, Laurel, Caleesi, Catri, and Ceporis._

_After a few awkward words were shared between Katniss and Cato, he began to make funny faces at Laurel, who gurgled and squirmed in Katniss' arms. Katniss almost looked like a natural as she whispered to his daughter and held her in the air. Laurel loved every second of it. Then Cato walked over and Katniss handed the baby to him and he played with her for a while. For a moment, Crucius could almost see them together, married with a child that looked similar to Laurel but with grey eyes and a serious side like both of her parents._

_When Cato finally tired of amusing Laurel, he handed her off to Crucius._

"_Do you like the Girl on Fire? I bet you do. Well I have a feeling that you'll be seeing a lot of her. Because whether they know it or not, they are going to love each other one day. I know it like I knew I loved your mother from the moment that I saw her." he murmured in her ear so that no one else could hear._

Now if that bitch Coin would just stop getting in their way.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked that. It's kind of a break from the storyline and it didn't really tell you anything new. I have been thinking about throwing in a random POV and this was perfect. I'll get back to the normal storyline next chapter. Review please!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Author's Note: 300 REVIEWS! My fantastic reviewers are the best. In honor of this amazing achievement, I'm allowing everyone who reviews this chapter, and only this chapter, to tell me a scene that they would like to have somewhere in the story. I will try my best to make it happen. It can be between any characters that you want.**

**If you didn't read that, go back and read it. You'll be grateful. I'm serious.**

Katniss shrieked and jumped back, Cinna catching her before she hit the ground. The flowers moved out of the way to reveal a very good-looking man laughing. He was familiar. Katniss righted herself and then stared at him for a moment.

"You're Finnick Odair." She acknowledged.

"The very same." He said, bowing dramatically, the flowers in his hands sweeping the floor before he stood up and presented them to her.

"They are katniss flowers." He informed her after she stared at him for a moment.

She looked up with a glare.

"I know what katniss flowers are. I'm named after them." She said snarkily.

"They are as beautiful as you. My darling you are enchanting." He said, picking up her hand and kissing it.

"They're dead." She said after a moment.

"What?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"You picked them and now they're dead. If right now they represent my beauty, what exactly will they be representing in a day when they are withered and brown?" she asked, her eyebrow raising slightly.

Finnick looked utterly perplexed at her question.

"Didn't I tell you she's a charmer?" Haymitch said, coming up behind Finnick and laughing.

Katniss glowered at both of them.

"These are genetically enhanced, sweetheart. They take at least a week to die after they are picked." Her mentor said, patting her on the back.

Katniss was about to shoot something back at him when she saw Peeta walking up, picking at his clothes uncomfortably. When he met Katniss' eyes, he flushed deeply and looked away. She realized immediately. He was wearing clothes similar to her. Only his shirt was a silvery grey. The exact same color as her eyes. She quickly rounded on Cinna and glared at him.

"Sweetheart." Haymitch said in a warning tone.

"No, Haymitch. I have chosen to forget that you chose not to tell me that my father was alive. You are not using me anymore. I am not going to be a part of the 'star-crossed lovers'. When I saw this shirt I thought that you were dressing me to match Cato. I should have been a little smarter I guess. Get me out of it. Now." She growled.

"Coin wants it…" Cinna began.

"I could give less than two shits what Coin wants. I'm not doing it. It was fine when we were trying to get sponsors. Now it's pathetic. I'm not doing it. I am with Cato. Not Peeta." She snapped.

"The Capitol people are more likely to be sympathetic to our cause if you and Peeta are still together." Haymitch said.

"Haymitch, Katniss is right. It was fine while we were trying to get sponsors but now it's ridiculous. Katniss and I are friends and nothing more. She's with Cato and I think that the people will be much more receptive to that. If they question anything to do with us, the games change people. It's that simple. Neither of us want to continue this ruse." Peeta threw in.

Katniss looked at him with surprise before mouthing 'thank you'. He nodded and smiled slightly.

"Katniss and Cato are as unlikely as me and Effie." Haymitch said.

A harrumph sounded behind them and Katniss turned, not even realizing that Effie was with them.

"Well we've happened and that's what the truth is. I'm not just going to pretend to love Peeta when I'm with someone else. You can't ask me to sacrifice my values for the good of the rebellion." Katniss said.

"You agreed to give everything to the rebellion when you agreed to be the Mockingjay." Haymitch shot back.

"You mean when I was threatened into being the Mockingjay?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

That stumped him and everyone else. She remembered that they didn't know of the threats that Coin threw at her. Katniss took advantage of the silence, ripping her jacket off and then immediately the shirt with it. Peeta immediately averted his eyes as she stood face to face with Haymitch in just her bra and the pants. She heard a noise and then Cinna pushed another shirt into her hands. She pulled it on and was happy to see that it was a deep hunter green.

"And if the rebellion decides that I have to give every part of myself to it, I'll leave right fucking now. I am not going to allow myself to be used in every way. That's what the Capitol does and I'm not going to put my support behind that." she snapped.

She noticed Finnick visibly wince beside her and wondered what that was about for a moment.

"As your trainer…" Finnick began.

"My what?" she asked, rounding on him.

"A few people have been selected to be your trainers. Finnick is one of them." Haymitch said, looking anywhere but at Katniss.

"Why?" she asked, looking at the former victor suspiciously.

"Because out of everyone that isn't a part of District 13, I've been a soldier for the rebellion for the longest time, other than Haymitch. I know the ins and outs and how to work the system. I know how to get you up to that army base the fastest way possible. I assume that's what you want, cupcake?" he asked, smirking and raising his eyebrow in a way that was similar to her.

She hesitated, looking at him, trying to figure him out.

"No more pet names." She said.

"I can't agree to that." he replied with sparkling eyes.

* * *

After a little more arguing, Peeta was finally put in a dark blue shirt and they were off to wherever they were filming the propo. Katniss was surprised when they were led outside.

"Where are we going?" she asked Finnick, who was whistling happily.

He pointed to the woods and Katniss felt her spirits lift a little. That was her element. She looked around and saw that the other tributes were gathered around with their mentors and stylists. Everyone was dressed pretty much the same. All of their shirts were different colors. When she saw Cato looming above everyone else with a glare on his face, she stopped in her tracks. As soon as he looked at her, his bad mood melted away and he smiled slightly.

She smiled back and walked up to the group. Glimmer immediately put her arm through Katniss', linking their elbows.

"They brought us all a present." She said with a grin.

"But ladies, I'm not wrapped." Finnick said with a wink as he passed by them.

Glimmer's eyes widened and she looked struck for a moment before she looked at Katniss.

"Finnick Odair?" she asked.

Katniss nodded.

"Oh he's pretty." Glimmer sighed, looking out of it for a moment.

Katniss let out a short laugh and shook her head.

"You're ridiculous." She said.

"I know." Glimmer shrugged before leading her over to a tarp on the ground.

"They are underneath. I want to see." She said with a whiny tone.

Katniss looked around quickly and then bent down to rip the tarp off.

"No!" a shrill voice rang out.

Katniss cursed aloud and turned to glower at Effie.

"Those are a surprise. You cannot!" she hissed, shaking her head at Katniss.

She tried to put on her best innocent face.

"I was admiring the tarp, Effie. It's such a beautiful shade of muddy brown. You should get Cinna to make a dress for you." She said with a grin.

Effie glowered at her and stalked away. She shook her head and then relaxed as soon as she felt his presence behind her. She quickly disengaged from Glimmer and turned to hug him. She needed to feel his strong arms wrapped around her. She needed everyone to see that they weren't allowed to get between them. That their relationship was not to be hidden away like some horrible secret. She wasn't going to pretend to be in love with Peeta because… well because she might have been falling in love with another boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

And no one, not even the president of the rebellion, was going to stop her.

**Author's Note: If you didn't read my author's note from the beginning of this chapter, go back and read it. I promise it's worth your while. I hope you liked this. Please review!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

Katniss felt as though she was a five-year-old again lined up to wait for their lunch at school. Somehow the Seam kids always ended up behind the merchant kids. She was at the end of the line traipsing into the forest. They lined them up by district with their mentors. Even though Cato was at the front with Clove and his mentors, Brutus and Enobaria, the two older District 2 victors still managed to send her glares. All of the other mentors merely looked at her with interest. Except for Finnick. Everytime she caught his eye, he winked at her or smirked as if he knew something that she didn't.

She had a pretty good idea that he knew a lot that she didn't but she still didn't like the feeling of being behind on something. Both mentally and physically. The end of the line was disconcerting, as if they were more open to attack than anyone else. She had to remind herself that this wasn't the Hunger Games. They were going to film a propaganda ad. Then she remembered that the propo they were filming would most likely make them the number one targets of the Capitol and she tensed up again, ready for attack at any moment.

Two of the District 13 guards were carrying the tarp that hid whatever they were keeping from them. Katniss was getting more and more curious about that. When they stopped in a meadow, she walked over to the tarp where three people were standing.

"Oh you are Katniss Everdeen. I'm Cressida, the director. These are my crew, Pollux and Castor. We are from the Capitol as I am sure you can tell." She said, gesturing to their strange insect-like outfits.

"Hello." She greeted before she looked down at the tarp. "What's under it?" she asked plainly.

"Oh I can imagine that you are very curious. Go ahead and show them. I'm sure that they'll all know what belongs to them." The director said.

The guards lifted the tarp up to reveal a line up of weapons. Katniss flashed back to the bloodbath of the Cornucopia briefly before shaking it off. She knew instantly which one was hers. Proudly displayed in the middle was a shining silver bow with a sheath of arrows next to it. On one side of it was a silver sword that matched it perfectly. She knew exactly who that belonged to.

"Do you know who designed it?" Cressida asked when Katniss picked up the bow and arrows.

"No." she breathed, admiring the beautiful etching on the arrows.

It was as though an artist drew on them. As she admired the bow, something caught her eye. Among the etchings in the metal part, three words stood out. She wouldn't have noticed the writing if she wasn't looking so closely. It was as though it only stood out when it caught the right light. She squinted her eyes at it. It was in a strange language that she'd never seen or heard before.

"Omnia Vincit Amor." A voice said behind her.

She turned to look at Cinna, who was grinning at her.

"You made this?" she asked, smiling at him.

"No, I designed it." he said, shaking his head.

"What does it mean?" she questioned, looking at it once again.

"Love Conquers All." He said knowingly, his eyebrows lifted slightly.

She flushed as she read it again. Cinna always knew her innermost thoughts before she even knew them.

"How do you know?" she whispered.

"Because I look." he shrugged.

"What language is it?" she asked louder, running her fingers over the letters.

"Latin. It was used a very long time ago. District 13 has an extensive library of the books that weren't destroyed. I've been reading them a lot and I found this in a book of the language of Latin. You should go and read some. I'm sure you would enjoy it." he said.

"Take me there sometime." She said with a smile before she turned to see Cato testing out the shining sword a few yards away.

Cressida, Castor, and Pollux were all watching with wide, fearful eyes as he slashed the sword through the air so quickly that the silver sword was a blur. Katniss walked up to him and he stopped.

"That's a pretty bow." He said.

"That's a pretty sword." She shot back, grinning.

"It's fancy. I think it has some words on the hilt. Not sure who designed it. My style team isn't nearly that creative." He said, looking at it.

"Let me see." She said, pulling it towards her.

She heard a gasp when she pulled it out of Cato's hand and he let her. She looked up to see Enobaria looking at her with an open mouth. Her eyes flickered back down to the sword and she searched for the words that he spoke of.

"Love Conquers All." She repeated from what she heard Cinna say.

"What? How do you know? It's not in our language." He said.

"Cinna told me. Look." she handed him her bow and pointed to the place that it was on hers as well.

Cato looked confused for a moment before he looked at her.

"Your stylist… he likes you." He said.

"I think he likes you too. Or at least he supports this." She said, gesturing between them.

Cato smiled slightly and turned to look at Clove, who was playing around with the four knives that were given to her.

"I'm going to go talk to Clove. I haven't really talked to her lately." He said.

Katniss nodded as he walked off until she realized that she was still holding his sword.

"He never lets anyone touch his toys." A voice said from behind her.

She turned to see Enobaria standing a few feet away from her.

"You really have changed him. A few months ago he would have killed someone if they touched his sword." She said, squinting at her.

"I know." She said automatically, remembering Cato freaking out during training when his knife disappeared.

"Hmm." Enobaria murmured before walking off.

"All right everyone! Let's get started!" Cressida exclaimed, sounding excited. "All mentors, stylists, and anyone else who isn't a tribute for this years Hunger Games off to the side. We are not filming you today." She said, looking around.

"Well it's your choice but I do think that I would make your propo much more popular." Finnick said, winking at the director.

"I do as well, Finnick. But not everything needs you in it." Cressida shot back, grinning at him.

"I don't believe that and neither should you." He said, walking over to the group of mentors.

"All right, tributes. You all look more afraid than you did when you were at the Cornucopia. Lighten up, this is not going to be scary. Everyone follow Glimmer's lead. She looks… confident." She said, pointing to Glimmer who was leaning against a tree with her legs folded in such a way that made her look like she was posing for a photo shoot.

"I am not doing that." Marvel said, shaking his head at her feminine stance.

"I didn't ask you to do exactly what she's doing. She's doing something that makes her comfortable. I'm asking you to do something that makes you comfortable." The director said, already sounding exasperated with their blank stares.

"I'm comfortable when I'm fighting. But I don't think that showing us fighting would be the best image to give to the people of Panem when we want them to have confidence in us." Cato said.

"I'm comfortable when I'm throwing my knife at things. Can I do that?" Clove questioned.

"I like baking bread." Peeta shrugged, making Katniss grin and Rue giggle next to her.

"Ok this is getting too chaotic. Katniss , climb a tree. Cato and Marvel, you both have swords. Fight each other. Not aiming to kill but as if you're training. Rue, climb a tree too. Thresh, look big. Glitter, stay like you are, I suppose. You don't seem to be good at much else other than looking pretty. Peeta, go paint yourself or something, I don't know. Just be yourselves." Haymitch ranted.

"My name is Glimmer!" Glimmer shouted, glaring at Haymitch.

Katniss rolled her eyes and took advantage of everyone focusing on Haymitch and Glimmer as she approached the tree and quickly scaled it with her bow slung over her back and Cato's sword tucked under her arm.

"Where's your sword, man?" she heard Marvel ask Cato.

"I… uh…" she peeked through the branches to see him turning in a circle looking for her.

In fact everyone was looking around, confused at where she went. She pulled her knees up and tucked her legs underneath her. The branch was thick so it didn't even bend as she sat on it. As everyone kept peeking into trees and looking for her, she finally decided to show them where she was. She pulled one of her arrows out of the sheath and strung it. She looked down to see that Castor and Pollux were looking up at her and a camera was trained right on her. She grinned at them before releasing the arrow right into the middle of the group.

Everyone jumped back and looked up where it came from.

"Hey." She shrugged.

Rue smiled and quickly ran to the tree before climbing up and sitting on the branch with her.

"You have Cato's sword." She said with surprise.

Katniss knew that she was recalling the day when she stole Cato's knife and hid in the nets on the ceiling of the training center.

"I do. To be fair, I didn't steal it. He handed it to me and walked off." She said with a smile.

"And now you can give it back." he said, standing at the bottom of the tree with his arms crossed.

"Or what?" she challenged, leaning over and grinning at him.

Cato looked unsure for a moment before he grimaced.

"Please?" he asked, sounding defeated.

They both knew that he couldn't climb the tree, he was too large. He wasn't able to reach her because of how high she was. Katniss laughed and slid down onto a lower branch and then onto an even lower one. She held out the sword with her hands on the blade and the hilt facing him. He smiled at her and took it slowly, making sure that he didn't cut her hands. When he had it, she began to stand back up to climb up the tree but his hand caught hers and pulled her out of the tree. She screamed as she fell through the air and she heard Haymitch curse loudly.

But, of course, Cato had it all planned out. He caught her perfectly so that her body was in a bridal position in his arms and her head was close to his.

"Now I want a kiss." He whispered.

"Say please." She murmured back teasingly, a smile playing on her lips.

"Please, silly girl." he said, grinning before he captured her lips in his.

She heard gasps and murmurs of awe around them as they kissed. She knew that they were filming this and she hoped that they would use it in the propo so that everyone would know that Katniss was not with Peeta. She was with Cato. Omnia Vincit Amor.

"Love conquers all." She whispered when he pulled away.

"I sure as hell hope so." He said, setting her on her feet.

**AN: Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I've been so busy with work and getting ready to go back to school next month. It's been stressful. I hope you liked it! Review please!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**So sorry it's taken me so long to review! I haven't been able to write anything new until now. I hope you forgive me and I'll try to update more. I'm living in NYC and the hurricane is heading our way. My school is cancelled so I have plenty of time to write!**

**By the way, I've changed the rating to M for this story because I don't feel comfortable having the level of language I have in this story with a rating of 'T'. Also, this part of the story is going to end soon and I'm going to start a sequel right around the time that the group splits up for the others to go to the army base and for Katniss to begin her training.**

* * *

Katniss sighed quietly. It was quite crowded but everyone wanted to watch the debut of their first propaganda video. They were all crammed into one meeting room. She was standing in the corner leaning back into Cato's chest with his large arms wrapped around her midsection. Instead of restricting her, she felt as thought it were comforting her.

"You ok?" Cato asked, sensing her tension.

"Just a little crowded." She murmured, leaning her head back to close her eyes.

He nodded, recalling her telling him about her fear of enclosed spaces. It didn't go away just because her father turned out to be alive. She still had the nightmare about being in the mine when it blew up. But, of course, it was mixed in with dozens of other nightmares ranging from still being in the arena to President Snow killing every person that she cared about right in front of her.

"I can distract you if you want." He said suggestively.

She laughed and shook her head.

"Please don't." Prim said from beside Katniss, looking a little bit disgusted.

Catri and Rue both nodded in agreement from the other side of them.

"Yes, listen to the children. Don't make out in open areas. You'll make me sick." Haymitch grumbled.

"Well you don't have to watch." Katniss said simply, turning and pressing her lips to Cato's just to show them that she could do whatever the hell she wanted.

"It's coming on!" someone shouted excitedly.

She grinned up at Cato before turning around and watching the screen. It was a video of President Snow talking about the horrible rebels and how inhumane they were. The screen flashed with a shot of a mockingjay in a tree and then a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Hello citizens of Panem. I am Alma Coin, President of District 13 and the rebellion. I wish to introduce a video which will change all that you know about the Capitol. They told you that the tributes from this year's Hunger Games were dead, that we bombed them in cold blood. Well I'm here to tell you that is simply incorrect. And I know you don't believe me so I'll show you." Coin said, sounding smooth and comfortable.

The video faded to black and then the meadow where they shot the propo came into view. It went through different scenes, Cato and Marvel playing around with their swords, Peeta and Thresh wrestling around, Rue darting from tree to tree, Glimmer and Clove sitting against a tree talking, then finally, the scene that Katniss knew would be in there. She saw herself leaning off of a branch holding out the sword to Cato. Her breath caught when she saw herself. It was nothing like she thought she looked. Her eyes were bright and sparkling with amusement. A slight smile curved her lips upward and her entire body was leaning towards Cato.

He was grinning up at her as he took the sword and set it on the ground as she stood to climb back up the tree. The people in the room that weren't at the meadow gasped when he pulled her off of the tree. When their lips came together for a kiss, they all turned and stared at them. Katniss flushed and pressed herself even closer to Cato's chest.

"Save me." she whimpered.

"They're staring at me too." He replied, not sounding pleased at all.

"Should we run?" Katniss asked, reaching back to take his hand, making up her mind without hearing his answer.

"I'm not a coward." He said, but the uncomfortable tone of his voice told her differently.

"I am." She said, turning and dragging him out of the room.

They ran down the hallway both smiling despite the fact that they could hear people yelling at them.

"Where to?" Cato asked.

"Trees." She said simply, leading them to the forest room.

It seemed as if that was her go to room but he wasn't going to complain. It was quite peaceful. When they arrived there she pushed him against a tree and leaned against him, her head buried in his chest.

"So now, not only does District 13 know about us, so does the entire country." She sighed as he wrapped his strong arms around her and held her close.

"It'll be ok." He murmured, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

She withdrew and looked up at him.

"Will it? You're leaving in less than a month. Who knows if we'll be able to keep in contact with each other or how long it will be until we get to see each other again?" she said, voicing the fears that had been going through her head.

He just stared at her, looking as flummoxed by the questions as she was.

"I'm sorry. I just feel like everything in this world is trying to yank us apart just as we're figuring out that we want to be together." She mumbled, placing her forehead against his chest.

His hand stroked her freshly washed hair and he sighed.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know how this war is going to end and I don't know if I'm even going to see tomorrow. But what I do know is that I, Cato Selkirke, want to be with you, Katniss Everdeen. And I'll be damned if anyone is going to stop us." He informed her.

She looked up and smiled.

"I feel the same way." she said.

Katniss knew that neither of them were quite ready to admit that they were falling in love with the other person even if that were true. It just wasn't time and they knew it.

"Kiss me." he commanded.

"You're greedy." She said, laughing as he drew her face to his.

"Yes I am." He agreed.

* * *

"You look unhappy." Leonis Everdeen said to his wife.

"I'm just thinking." Camellia shrugged.

"You're worried about Katniss." He guessed, sitting beside her on the couch.

"She's being trained to be a soldier. I never wanted that for her. I never wanted any of this for her." she explained.

"I know but you know that she would never be satisfied with sitting here being domestic. She never was from the time she was a little girl. That's more Primrose's style of life. Katniss is sixteen-years-old, almost seventeen, and she deserves to choose her own path in life as she has been doing for the past few years. She has earned it." Leonis said against his better judgment.

"What about her and Cato? Is he really good for her? He's so different and he was raised so differently. I'm just concerned that he's encouraging her to lead a more violent life." Camellia said.

"And if he was? What makes you think there's anything we could say to her to make her leave him?" he said.

"I know. She's just so grown up. I feel like she doesn't even need us anymore."

"She does. Katniss may not realize it now but the day will come when she needs us and I promise you that she will come running to us. She's a smart girl as much as she is a stubborn girl. If she needs us, she'll let us know." He explained.

Camellia nodded and smiled at him, kissing him softly before cuddling up to him.

"I'm scared, Leo." She admitted.

"We're on the eve of war, Cam, we're all scared." He said.

* * *

Cato was walking the hallway after dropping Katniss off at her home. He heard footsteps behind him and whirled around to face whoever was following him.

"Sorry!" Peeta said immediately, holding his hands up in surrender.

Cato just grunted and turned to walk away.

"Wait." The other blonde haired boy said, stopping him in his tracks.

"For what?" Cato asked, not bothering to turn around.

"I want to talk about Katniss." Peeta said.

Cato whirled around and fixed a burning gaze on him.

"What about her?" he demanded.

"Nothing bad. I just… I want to make sure she's safe. I may not love her like that but I still care for her." Peeta said.

"Of course she's safe. I'll never let anything happen to her." Cato said gruffly, annoyed at the assumption that he wouldn't protect his girl.

"I don't mean physically. I know Katniss. Not as well as some people but I still know her. She's a distant personality and it takes a lot for her to open her heart to people. I want to make sure she's safe from you breaking all of that trust that she's putting in you." Peeta said.

"What are you saying?" Cato asked suspiciously.

"I'm saying that Katniss is falling for you, hard. I can see it in her eyes every time she looks at you. Everyone can see it. And if you're not ready or if you don't feel the same way, get out now before you hurt her even more. It's what Katniss deserves. I'm sure as hell not trying to take her from you and I'm in full support of your relationship as long as you don't break her heart."

Peeta turned to walk away, leaving Cato looking after him with a thoughtful look on his face. Was Katniss, beautiful and amazing as she was, really falling in love with him?

* * *

**Author's Note: I know this wasn't long and I'm sorry. I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Sorry again for taking so long to update.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Just to let you know, I'm skipping ahead to a few days before Cato, Glimmer, Marvel, Peeta, Gale, Clove, and Thresh leave for the army base. I hate to do it but I have a lot of stuff planned for this story and I don't want to make it a bazillion chapters long.**

* * *

Everyone was worried. In the past month, they'd seen Katniss and Cato drawing every closer to each other. They were falling in love with each other, though it seemed that everyone knew that except for them. But now people were seeing them together less and less. Cato was preparing, with the rest of the fighters, to leave for the army base. Katniss disappearing from sight and, very often, no one knew where she was going.

Even their families had been seeing them less and less. Together or apart, they were withdrawing from everyone in their life. Katniss kept herself so busy so that she tried not to think about it. She discovered the library that Cinna told her about. She was reading everything she could find. There were Greek mythologies, medieval tragedies, and renaissance comedies. There were works of philosophy and works of religion, which were long lost to Panem. The same stories retold ten different ways from ten different old countries, fairy tales, they were called.

Katniss liked to read them because, instead of bringing her nightmares at night, the incredible stories brought her adventurous dreams of outlandish things. She often read them in the forest room up in a tree, her legs dangling over the branches as her eyes scanned the pages hungrily. It wasn't as though she was hiding away. Cato knew this room and he knew it was her favorite place to be. He could find her if he wanted to. But then again, she couldn't really convince herself that it was one-sided.

She knew exactly where he would be. In the training room with the other tributes working out. Katniss could find him if she wanted to. But the problem was, did she want to? At that moment, she was reading a book up high in a tree, lying on her back on a thick branch with her dark curls spilling over the branch. It was longer than it was before, almost down to her waist. She had on a dark blue dress on that was cotton knit and a flowing skirt and sleeves.

The book she was reading that day was a book of poems by a poet named Emily Dickenson. She appreciated the poems. They were dark, Cinna warned her of that. But they seemed to put all of the darkness and dreariness of Panem into words. When she heard soft footsteps, she knew who was there.

"What are you reading?" Prim asked, looking up at her.

"Poems." Katniss said, smiling down at her.

But her sister was smarter than that. She knew the smile was fake.

"Read me one." She said, sitting at the base of the tree.

She would never climb a tree no matter how much Rue tried to convince her to. She was content to keep her feet firmly on the ground, completely opposite of her sister. Katniss sighed and cleared her throat.

"New feet within my garden go—  
New fingers stir the sod—  
A Troubadour upon the Elm  
Betrays the solitude.

New children play upon the green—  
New Weary sleep below—  
And still the pensive Spring returns—  
And still the punctual snow!"

Katniss closed the book and looked down at her sister.

"What does it mean?" Prim asked, sensing the depressing nature of the poem.

"It means… it means that despite all the dreary things that happen, despite death and war and everything, spring always comes. But it doesn't stay that way. It never stays that way. Because winter always comes with snow and coldness and fear. Fear of the enemies, both human and nature." Katniss explained.

"That's sad." Prim sighed, looking at the ground.

"Sorry, Prim. I shouldn't have read you one. Emily Dickenson's poems are always sad." Katniss said, regretting telling her sister the sad poem and it's meaning.

Prim didn't say anything.

"Is that what's going to happen? Everyone is so confident that we're going to win the rebellion and I guess if we win, it'll be spring. But then winter has to come." She said.

Katniss sighed and sat up.

"No, Prim. That doesn't mean that has to happen. It's one woman with one mind who wrote a poem. She isn't omniscient." She assured her.

"What does that mean?" Prim asked, looking up at her with big eyes.

"It means all knowing."

"But what about you?" she asked in a small voice.

"What about me?" Katniss asked, confused at what she was asking.

"Everyone talked about you and Cato before. They said you were in love." Prim said.

A cold chill ran down her back and she shivered slightly.

"Prim…" she began.

"But why aren't you ever together anymore? You never talk about him anymore. Everyone thinks you're not in love now and they think that you hate each other." Prim said, tears filling her eyes as she jumped up.

"It's not…" Katniss said.

"Catri and Ceporis have stopped spending time with me and Rue because they feel like it would betray Cato! Why can't you make up with him so that I can have my friends again?" Prim cried, turning to run out of the room.

"Prim!" Katniss yelled as the door slammed shut.

She groaned and leaned back onto the branch, thoughts whirling through her head. So far, her family had avoided all mention of Cato and their relationship. They knew she didn't want to talk about it but now Prim had finally broken down as Katniss expected she would.

She let her legs stretch out and lazily closed her eyes, her mind going over everything that happened in the past month. They'd been happy and warm. But then winter came and the snow began to fall.

* * *

"Would you please tell us what happened?" Crucius asked, watching as Cato sparred with Marvel.

"No." he growled.

"Something happened, man. One day, you and Katniss were walking around and kissing and making everyone sick and the next day no one saw you together and both of you refused to talk about the other. Now Katniss has disappeared from sight…" Marvel was cut off by being thrown to the floor.

"I said no." he snapped, turning to walk away while throwing off the boxing gloves.

Crucius shook his head at Marvel and turned to follow his brother out of the gym.

"Seriously, Cato. You need to tell me what happened. Ever since you stopped being with Katniss you've been mean and growly… and dare I say it, back to the old Cato." He said.

Cato whirled around and glared at him.

"I am not like that again." He said, pointing a finger in Crucius' face.

"You might as well be." Crucius replied.

Cato shook his head and turned to walk away angrily. Suddenly a lump of blonde hair drove herself into his arms and began sobbing into his stomach. He looked back at Crucius with a questioning gaze. If anything, he was not expecting for Prim to come barreling at him and hug him.

"Prim?" he asked gently, kneeling down to look at her.

"Please go back to her." she pleaded softly, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh…" he said, unsure of what to say.

"Katniss is sad. She's reading sad poems and she's always sad." Prim cried.

"Prim…" he was cut off by her once more.

"She's in the forest." She said before running off still crying.

Cato looked at Crucius as he stood.

"Go to her." he said simply before turning to walk off.

Cato sighed and leaned against the wall, thinking of the last month. Everything had been great until it suddenly wasn't.

* * *

Katniss went back to her book after Prim left, hoping that the dense words would fill her mind with distractions. They didn't. So when the door opened once again, she instantly peeked through the tree branches to see a large blonde haired figure walking through the forest floor. He didn't know that this was her favorite tree like Prim did as she'd discovered it after the distance grew between them.

So he was unlikely to find her. After five minutes of her staying perfectly still and him roaming the forest peering up into the trees, he sighed and growled angrily, eerily reminding her of the old Cato who she saw at the beginning of the Games.

"I know you're in here." He said loudly.

She bit her lip to keep from sighing at finally hearing his voice after a week and a half of avoiding him completely. He groaned and walked to the very tree that she was in, sliding down the trunk and sitting with one leg propped up and the other one sticking out, his arm lying across his knee.

"I found Prim. She was crying."

Katniss felt a pang in her heart when she realized that she should have chased after her saddened sister.

"She begged me to come find you. To come fix everything."

She didn't dare move just in case he heard her with his amazing hearing.

"I came. But I have no idea how to fix everything."

Silence.

"I need your help if we're going to fix everything."

Nothing.

"I need you to answer me dammit!" he yelled, slamming his fist into the ground and making her wince.

Tears burned her eyes when she saw him glare at his fist. She squeezed her eyes shut but still remained perfectly still.

"Do you even care?" he whispered almost imperceptibly.

She unconsciously bit her lip even harder, the metallic taste of blood tainting her mouth.

"I guess not." He mumbled.

She looked up as he stood slowly, as though he really didn't to leave. When he started to walk away from the tree, she sat up and rustled the leaves. He whirled around and looked up, searching the tree. When his eyes fell on her, he froze and just stared. She didn't move either, clutching the book in one hand and the branch in the other.

"You were listening." He said.

"Of course I was." she replied softly, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Why didn't you answer me?"

"I didn't know what to say."

He didn't say anything else, just staring at her.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"I told you… Prim…" he began.

"I know that you like children and they have a place in your heart but I'm pretty sure that she's not the only reason you came. So why did you come?" she cut him off.

"Why did you run away?" he demanded, eyes once again blazing.

She took in a sharp breath and the book slipped out of her grasp, falling to the forest floor.

* * *

**A week and a half earlier**

"_What's going on?" Katniss asked as they sat on the floor in Cato's apartment._

_They were alone. Crucius and Ivory were playing with Laurel in the garden. The kids were all swimming with Caleesia and Camellia._

"_What do you mean?" he asked, looking up at her from where he was staring._

"_I don't know. You're acting strange. You have been for the past few days." Katniss shrugged, leaning back against the couch._

"_Nothing." He said with a shake of his head._

"_You do know that I can tell when you're lying. You might be able to trick everyone else into believing it but I know you better than that." she said, raising an eyebrow at him._

"_I said, it's nothing." He assured her, trying for a smile and failing miserably._

"_Fine." She said._

"_Fine?" he asked, confused by her reaction._

"_I'm not going to press you for what's bothering you, Cato. If that's what you want I'm sorry to disappoint. If you want to tell me what's wrong, tell me. If not, fine." She said, looking at her hands that were joined in her lap._

_He stayed silent for a few moments._

"_I'm leaving soon." He said._

"_Not for another two weeks." She said._

"_That's soon. That's not near enough time."_

"_Near enough time for what?" Katniss asked, lifting her eyes up to look at him._

"_I don't know. Nothing. Everything." Cato said, looking down at his own hands._

"_You're being really vague." She informed him._

"_I don't know how to put it into words, ok?" he said, crackling his knuckles out of habit._

"_I already told you, Cato, I'm not trying to force you to tell me. You don't have to put anything into words if you don't want to." Katniss assured him, patting his leg before standing up to get a glass of water._

"_Why not?" he asked, sounding stumped and a little frustrated._

_She shrugged, pouring one for him as well before bringing it to him and sliding onto the couch behind him. She began to rub his shoulders softly._

"_Because I've learned that you will come to me in your own time if you need me." she said, kissing the top of his head._

"_Maybe that's because I'm not sure if you even want to talk to me and it takes me a while to convince myself that you do." He said, pulling away and standing up to turn around and look at her._

_She stared up at him for a moment._

"_What is this really about, Cato?" she demanded, standing up as well._

"_It's about the fact that for the past damn week I've been being driven crazy by guilt and you haven't even noticed!" he yelled._

"_I have noticed! I've been leaving you alone! You don't like it when people question you and I knew that!" Katniss exclaimed, angered by his accusation._

"_Maybe you shouldn't have just been ignoring it! I've been having nightmares about the people I've killed and you've been going on your way acting like a big fucking nothing has been happening!"_

_Katniss stared at him, unsure of what to say._

"_You really think that I've just been ignoring the fact that you're having problems despite the fact that last week I asked you why you were glaring at Gale and you launched into a fucking lecture on how sometimes I don't need to know everything that's going on in your head!" she shouted._

_This quieted him down._

"_I've been haunted by the people I killed, the children that I killed." He mumbled._

"_Well why the hell didn't you tell me? I thought we agreed that anytime that we were bothered by anything to do with the Games we would go straight to each other." she said softly, finally calmed by his lost gaze._

"_I thought… you didn't kill anyone. So I thought…"_

_As quickly as her anger went away, it came by with added fury._

"_Fuck you!" she shouted, launched forward and punching his chest, ignoring the radiating pain that flew up her arm._

"_What?" he asked, suddenly confused._

"_You thought that since I didn't kill anyone, I wouldn't understand! That I wouldn't comfort you and tell you that everything was going to be ok! You thought that I would be reminded of what you did and leave you!" she growled, launching at him with her fists._

"_It took a moment for him to get her under control._

"_Stop hitting me!" he demanded, grabbing her small wrists in his hands._

"_Go to hell!" she cried, struggling against him._

_He let her go as if he was stung and she stumbled backwards._

"_I have been here for you for these past few weeks! I have tried to do everything to convince you that I will not leave you no matter what you do! I witnessed some of the killings you're so afraid of facing and I still stuck by you through everything! So tell me what the hell I did to deserve you having so little faith in me?" she cried, tears streaming down her face._

_He didn't know what to say._

"_Katniss…" He sighed, stepping forward to embrace her._

"_Don't you dare touch me! Don't fucking touch me!" she hissed, throwing herself around him and running for the door._

"_I thought you said that you wouldn't leave me! You said that there was nothing that I could do to make you go!" he shouted after her, grasping for a hold on the small thread that kept them together._

"_There's a line, Cato! There's always a line! Showing that you don't trust me even after all that I've done to build a trust between us is crossing that line!" she sobbed, throwing him a last weeping look before running out of the room._

_He was frozen, unable to move. What just happened?_

* * *

"You know exactly why I ran." She said, looking down at her hands.

"Will you come down her please?" he asked, looking uncomfortable with her being up in the tree.

"Why? Because you know you can't get to me up here? Why do you think I've been in here, Cato? Because it's the one place you can't get to me." she said, brushing her curls out of her face.

"Please." He breathed pleadingly.

She looked at him again and sighed, scooting towards the trunk. She easily climbed down the tree, landing on the ground with effort and walking to pick her book up. When she stood, he was standing right in front of her.

"You look beautiful." he said, reaching out to touch her long hair.

"Don't." she said, jerking away.

Hurt flashed through his eyes.

"I've been going crazy the past few days, Katniss. I haven't even known what to do without you. It's like I can't remember what life was like without you." he said.

Katniss didn't want to admit that it was the exact same for her. It was either pride or fear of him hurting her so deeply again.

"Please tell me it's not going to be like this forever, Katniss. I can't leave knowing that you hate me." he begged, reaching towards her.

"I don't hate you." she sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"You don't?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

She looked up at him.

"I felt so betrayed. You were the one person who was always supposed to believe in me no matter what happened. But no matter what, I will never hate you." she assured him.

"I'm so sorry, Katniss. I don't know why I ever doubted you. I knew, deep inside, that you would never leave me because I'm a killer. I guess it was just old insecurities." He shrugged.

"I thought we'd pushed past that. I thought we knew that we weren't going to blame each other for anything that happened while we were out there." Katniss said, stepping forward and taking his hand, causing his eyes to light up a little.

"I think I just always thought that you deserved more than a brutal murderer."

"I deserve who I choose. And I choose you, Cato. I don't give a shit what other people think. I only care about you." she whispered, leaning her head against his chest like old times.

He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around her, rejoicing in the fact that she was finally in his arms. His girl. His lo… Was she? Was this girl, the girl on fire, Katniss Everdeen, his love?

"Katniss." He murmured, his voice full of emotion.

She withdrew and looked up, examining his eyes. They weren't closed off. They were open and showed her everything. They were full of every emotion that he never put into words. And what she saw there brought tears to her eyes. He didn't even have to say it. She knew.

"Me too." She murmured, answering the unspoken declaration.

He looked surprised that she could read him so easily. He lifted her and pressed his lips to hers, backing them up into the trees. Her legs wrapped around his waist and they began to kiss more passionately than they ever had before. His hand were cradling her thighs, holding her up easily as her hands roamed his back. He broke away and began kissing down her jaw and her neck to her chest and back up, nibbling on her ear before capture her lips again.

When his hips ground into hers, she let out a breathy moan, forming his name perfectly.

"Katniss." He growled when he felt her heat radiating all around him, especially focused to a specific spot underneath her dress.

"Cato." She sighed, burying her face in his neck as his lips explored her neck.

* * *

**Author's Note: I felt like writing an emotional chapter. I'm really just trying to get back into the habit of writing this story. Let me know if I'm doing badly and I'll try to change it. Also, this sounds a bit weird, but let me know if you want them to have sex in the next chapter. Because I have the story rated 'M' now, I can write a sex scene. It's all up to you. I can write it now or wait until later. Let me know in your reviews!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to Fanpire109, Larka Rinna Luna, MaddAlice, C.B. Weasley, hgismylife379, Sugarpearl, S. Martz, Cassidy, laughingsince98, liljennmartin, 111, HungerGamesFan67, sundragons9, Bobby and my anonymous reviewer for reviewing the last two chapters. I love you all and you gave me good advice.**

**Warning, this chapter will have minor lemons. I will put a warning where they start and end so that anyone who wants to skip it can. It won't exactly be sex but it'll be something. I promise it'll be tasteful and not terribly explicit (don't worry sundragons9).**

**If you don't want to read the chapter at all, you don't really have to. It won't really contribute much new stuff to the story but I might refer back to it in other chapters. I don't know.**

* * *

Katniss didn't know that they could move as fast as they did to Cato's apartment without being chased. As soon as they slammed through the door and made sure that they were alone, their lips were firmly attached again, their hands roaming each other's bodies hungrily.

"Cato!" Katniss moaned when he lifted her and pressed her against the wall, his mouth attacking her neck with wet, sloppy kisses.

"I missed you." he murmured, his hands running through her long hair.

They fell through his open bedroom door and collapsed on the bed, Katniss underneath him. His knee was placed between her legs, holding them open slightly, and their hips connected. He held most of his weight up on his arms so he wouldn't crush her with his sheer size. Katniss didn't really care, bringing him down to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped them over so that her legs were straddling his hips and their chests were pressed together.

Katniss' hands drifted up his shirt as they kissed and he shivered at her warm touch.

"Cato…" she breathed into his neck, kissing it lightly.

"Yeah?" he whispered back, as out of breath as she was.

She sat up and he marveled up at her. Her chest was heaving slightly and her lips were dark red and swollen as her cheeks were flushed with pink. Her hands traveled up his chest farther and before he knew it, his shirt was pulled over his head and thrown across the room. Her silver eyes became hooded and darknened as she inspected his muscled torso. She leaned down and began placing kisses all over it, much to his pleasure. Sharp breathes and light groans escaped from his mouth.

"Katniss!" he growled, picking her head up.

She had to have felt his approval of her actions underneath her hips.

"What?" she demanded, bothered by his sudden interruption of her activities.

"You're driving me crazy." He informed her, his blue eyes a few shades darker.

She grinned and, if possible, it turned him on even more. When she slid up his body to kiss him, he moaned loudly as she slid right against _that _body part. It was like she knew exactly what she was doing. As they kissed ferociously, his hands slid up her legs and under her dress, finding a grip on her hips, his thumbs sweeping over the protruding bones.

Apparently this action surprised her as her hips bucked against his, causing him to let out a breathy 'fuck' in her direction.

"Katniss you can't keep doing this!" he sighed as she kissed along his jaw.

"Why not?" she whispered, catching his earlobe in her teeth and flicking her tongue over it.

He lost all sense of stopping her and flipped them over to where he was lying beside her. He pushed her dress up and began attacking her stomach with kisses, causing her to tangle her hands in his hair, which had grown out considerably since the Games. When he kissed her hipbone just above the waistband of her black panties, she let out a cry and wriggled hips underneath him.

He grinned and pushed her dress up further until it was over her head. She looked up at him, not at all bothered by her lack of clothing even though his eyes were roaming her body hungrily.

"Cato." She whispered.

He looked up at her, catching onto the seriousness of her voice.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, instantly backtracking to wonder if he'd gone too far.

"No, everything is perfect." She said with an encouraging smile.

"Then what is it?" he asked, laying his hand on her flat stomach.

"We can do… things… I'm ok with that because I know that I don't want to stop right now. But I can't… we can't…" she stammered, unsure of how to say it.

"You're not ready to go all the way." he said.

She nodded, biting her lip and looking a bit ashamed. He smiled and scooted up, catching that lip in his mouth and kissing her thoroughly.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I am not going to push you to do something you don't want to do." He assured her, looking deep into her beautiful eyes.

"Thank you." she whispered, kissing him again.

He made to pull away and she stopped him.

"I didn't say I was ready to stop. I just said I didn't want to do everything." She admonished, smiling seductively at him as she pulled him back down to her face.

**MINOR LEMONS**

When her wandering hands brushed over his zipper on his jeans, he groaned into her mouth and bucked his hips automatically. She grinned against his mouth, doing the same thing and causing him to curse loudly.

"You can't keep teasing me, Katniss." He groaned into her neck.

"Make me stop." She encouraged, throwing her leg over his hip.

At that invitation, his hand swept up her thigh and his thumb swept over her cloth-covered womanhood, causing her to gasp loudly and wriggle quite a bit.

"I've never…" she said, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Just tell me if you want to stop." He murmured, stroking her once more through the dampened clothing.

He was glad to know that he gave her that reaction just as she was pleased to feel his the evidence of his reaction against her leg. Cato could feel her body trembling underneath his and he hoped that it was out of lust and not fear.

"You ok?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah." She nodded, smiling up at him before bringing his lips to hers.

When her fingers began to struggle with his jeans.

"Don't." he said, catching her hand.

She looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"I don't want you to feel pressured to do that. Let me first." He said, trailing kissed down her neck and to her chest. When he kissed the top of her right breast, she gasped and arched at the chest. At the same time, his hand pushed aside her panties and stroked her fully, making her cry out loudly.

"Cato!"

He just used one finger, stroking her length and circling her bundle of nerves before repeating the action.

"Please." She whimpered, writhing underneath him.

He slid his middle finger into her warmth and her arms flew out, gripping his biceps, her nails digging in as he moved it in and out slowly. Then his thumb began massaging her sensitive nub softly and the mewls and moans coming out of her mouth made him even more attracted to her. When his name began a mantra on her lips, he swallowed it up with his own lips, enjoying feeling her body wriggling underneath his as he continued his ministrations.

"How are you doing?" he whispered in her ear.

"Please don't stop." She whispered shakily.

He withdrew and watched her face, her eyes half lidded and looking up at him as her mouth let out the most beautiful sounds. He knew when she was close, her chest arching and her moans become louder and less articulate. When her muscles clenched down, she let out one long scream of pleasure that was muffled by his passionate kiss as she came undone. When her body dropped to the mattress limply, he withdrew his fingers and moved her panties back into place, grinning down at her.

"Wow." She breathed when she was able to finally speak.

"I'm glad you feel that way." he chuckled, stroking her hair.

He loved the way her lips were swollen and her chest was flushed pleasure. She looked thoroughly ravaged even with the minor act of pleasure he'd given her. Katniss looked up at him with a clear gaze, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"What?" he asked, smiling back at her.

"I'm not pressured now." She whispered.

Her hands reached out, steady now, and deftly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.

"Katniss…" he began, shocked when she easily slid his jeans off and flipped them over so that she the one hovering over him.

"You don't have to do this." he assured her.

"I know. I want to." She said, kissed his lips, then his neck, then his chest, all the way down to the waistband of his boxers and back up.

When her hand began traveling up his thigh, he found that he was the one trembling underneath her now. He knew that she'd been telling the truth when she said that she was inexperienced. But the way that she was making him feel, it didn't seem like she was. When her hand stroked him softly through his boxers, he groaned and bucked his hips uncontrollably.

She leaned down and kissed him, her chest pressed against his and her leg thrown over one of his. When her hand suddenly plunged down in his boxers, he let out a loud gasp and threw his head back. She began to move her hand slowly, up and down his length.

If she were to say that she didn't enjoy the look of utter pleasure on his face, she would be lying. It almost made her feel better than what he'd just done to her. Almost. When she pushed his boxers down with her other hand, she peeked down and her sight confirmed what she felt, he was quite large. Part of it scared her for the actions that they might be performing in the future, the far future most likely, and another part of her felt eager anticipation for it.

She continued her stroking, going faster and slower alternately, making her moan out her name along with expletives and pleas for more. When she felt him swell in her hand, she knew he was close. Katniss began to go faster and before she knew it, he was twitching and liquid was spilling out onto his stomach. Whoops, she didn't know how messy it would be. Once he finished, she looked up at his face with her lip in her teeth, unsure of how he would react. Was she good? Was she too inexperienced?

He opened his eyes and looked at her before a grin spread on his face.

"You were amazing." He assured her, pulling her up for a kiss as if to silence the thoughts that he can't have possibly known were going through her head.

When she drew away, she made a guilty face.

"I'm sorry." She said, glancing down at the liquid pooled just below his navel.

"For what?" he asked, surprised at her apology.

"I didn't know it would be so messy. I'll go get something to clean it up." She said quickly, standing to run to the bathroom.

As she turned to walk, she felt a sharp slap on her ass. She turned to look at him with shock.

"Couldn't resist." He shrugged, grinning widely.

"Mm-hm." She said with a roll of her eyes, walking to the bathroom and grabbing a washcloth, filling it with warm water before walking out to clean him up.

When everything was clean, she took the rag to the bathroom and rinsed it out thoroughly before throwing it into a pile with other dirty towels.

**MINOR LEMONS OVER**

She walked out of the bathroom to see him sitting on the bed with his jeans on but no shirt. She became embarrassingly aware that she was still in her bra and panties and began searching the room for her dress. He reached up and pulled her into his lap before kissing her softly and lovingly.

"Katniss." He whispered, looking into her eyes and there was that emotion again.

The one he couldn't quite put into words yet. She knew the feeling. It scared her too.

"I know." She nodded, stroking his cheek as she smiled.

"And you?" he asked.

"Yes." She said, confirming that she felt the same way without actually saying it.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, handing her dress to her that he laid on the bed rather neatly.

"Yeah, how did you know?" she asked, pulling it over her head.

"Because, doing this makes me hungry and I figured it might make you hungry too." He said with a smirk as he pulled a shirt over his head.

Katniss stopped as she pulled on her shoes and something occurred to her.

"You've done this a lot before?" she asked, gesturing to the bed.

He looked up at her with an unsure face.

"It's ok, Cato. I'm not going to be mad at you for what you've done in the past before you ever knew me." she said, walking forward to kiss him lightly and smiling.

"I haven't done it a lot. But at the Academy, things were… well it was a normal thing to do." He shrugged, pulling on his own shoes.

"I understand." She said, taking his hand as she pulled him out of the room and towards the door.

"That's it? You're not going to get mad that it's not my first time too?" he asked, unsure of what to make of her easygoing attitude.

"I already told you why, Cato. I'm not going to be jealous of girls I've never even met for being attracted to you and for not being told no. If you tell me that you're still doing it with other people, yeah we're going to have a problem. But for now, I'm fine." She shrugged, smiling up at him.

"How is it you always manage to surprise me?" he asked.

"It's what I do." She said, patting his cheek before pulling him out of the room to go to the cafeteria.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope it was good and not too explicit. I tried to keep it as non-explicit as I could. Review please if you read!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

**Thanks to HungerGamesFan67, hgismylife379, S. Martz, sundragons9, Bobby, Larka Rinna Luna, and Marisa Mellark for reviewing the last chapter.**

**Just to let you know, this is the last chapter of this part of the story. I plan on starting the sequel immediately and it's shouldn't be long before I post it. Unless, of course, the power goes out because of the storm. I hope not.**

Katniss' eyes slid open without her permission. She didn't want to wake up. Today was the day, they were all leaving. Her eyes burned, threatening to spill over with tears but she would not cry. She promised herself. Because it would just make the goodbye harder. She stared at the ceiling, willing herself to get out of bed but unable to do so. If she lay there, could she postpone the day? Could she keep them from leaving? She knew the answer and it wasn't the one she wanted.

"Katniss?" her sister's small voice said as she walked into the bedroom.

"Yeah?" she murmured, turning to look at her sister.

"Cinna is here." She said softly, walking to Katniss and stroking her face.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"They're filming the departure and I think he's supposed to make you look presentable. You have to go with him to get ready." Prim said.

Katniss sat up, shocked by the news. Then she threw the covers off and stomped out.

"No!" she shrieked when she appeared in the living room.

Her parents turned around from where they were talking to Cinna.

"Katniss… what…?" her mother began.

"They can't do this to me, Cinna. This is my last day. I can't be stuck in a room getting a makeover when they're all leaving in a few hours." She said pleadingly.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I tried to tell Coin but she's adamant. They want you looking your best for the propo." He sighed, looking tired.

"I don't give a damn about the propo. Screw Coin!" she shouted.

"Katniss, your sister." Camellia hissed, gathering a wide-eyed Prim in her arms.

"I'm sorry, Little Duck." She sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"Katniss I wish that I could change it but I can't. We have to do this and you know why. You're the mockingjay and that comes with responsibilities." Cinna said calmly.

Katniss glared at the floor before stomping out of the room and into the hallway with Cinna following her. When they arrived at the room, she threatened the three Capitol stylists with violence if they dared to touch a hair on her body.

"I'm here to look pretty but I don't need to be waxed everywhere." She said, glowering at all of them.

"Katniss we'll make it quick, I promise. But you need to look presentable." Cinna said, feeling her frustration as he tried to work around it.

Finally, thirty minutes later, they were working on her hair and make up. It was curled softy around her shoulders with half of it pulled back into a little clip. Her make up wasn't much, just a line of eyeliner, a brush of mascara, and a little blush. Then Cinna brought her outfit out. To her disgust, it included heels. It was a plain black ¾ sleeved dress with a red belt. It came to just past mid-thigh. The heels were plain black velvet material with no other details. Katniss looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Why do they have to go, Cinna?" she breathed as she let him slide the dress on her.

"I don't know, Katniss. I wish I could change it." he murmured, kissing her forehead as he helped her put the heels on.

"Even the Capitol didn't make me wear heels this high." She grumbled as she attempted to walk around the room with them.

"They want you to be able to kiss Cato without him having to lift you." Cinna explained.

"Why does that matter?" she asked, disgusted at their insane interest in the way she kissed Cato.

"Because they know that when he lifts you up…" Cinna began as he walked her out of the room.

"… you tend to wrap your legs around his waist. In this dress, that's dangerous. It's also inappropriate for children" Cinna said, smiling at her.

"Then make the dress longer." Katniss whispered as if she were telling him a great secret.

"Not with those legs. Your limbs are far too nice to cover up. They also want it to be more romantic than sexy, to send a message to Panem that you're domestic." He said.

"Hmm… domestically figuring out a way to execute all those that go against us. Just like the Capitol." she said, not bothering to keep the disgust out of her voice.

"Where are we going?" she asked, realizing that they were going away from the residences and entrance to the bunker.

"To Coin's office. She wants to talk about what's going to happen today." He said.

"Why is she trying to keep me away from him, Cinna?" she said, tears threatening to burn her eyes once more as she thought about this time that she could have been spending with Cato.

He sighed and turned to Katniss.

"I don't know for sure. But I think she might want the goodbye to be the only time you see each other today. It'll make it emotional and all that." He said.

Katniss shook her head and bit her lip hard.

"Fuck that bitch." She growled, bending down and ripping her heels off before turning to run in the other direction.

When Katniss arrived at Cato's rooms, she slammed her hand down on the door. It opened to reveal Caleesi holding Laurel.

"Is Cato here?" she asked desperately, tears filling her eyes.

"Oh Katniss. No he isn't. They have him off getting his uniform and ID tags." She said, sounding sad but also worried for Katniss.

She put a hand over her eyes and fought the urge to scream. Why were they keeping them apart? In what world was this their right?

"Come in, sweetie. You won't be able to find him and you shouldn't be alone." She said, gesturing for Katniss to walk inside.

She saw Ivory and Crucius on the couch, Crucius looking a little sleep deprived and sad as well. Catri and Ceporis were playing on the floor.

"Hi Katniss!" They exclaimed, jumping up and running to embrace her.

"Hey guys." She said, wiping away her tears before she bent down and hugged them individually.

"Are you crying cause Cato's leaving?" Catri asked, looking solemn as Katniss pulled away.

"I'm just a little sad is all." She admitted, stroking the little girl's cheek.

"Me too." She said.

Katniss nodded and stood, walking to the living room and standing there, unsure of what to do. When she met Crucius' gaze, they had gotten close over the past month along with her and Cato and he was like the big brother she never had, she burst into tears, unable to hold it back anymore. He was up and holding her in an instant, letting her cry into his shirt.

"I'm s-sorry. I just… I can't do this anymore. I can't deal with this." she cried softly, letting him pull her to the couch. She felt Ivory's arms wrapping around her as well and she felt thoroughly comforted with their arms wrapped around her.

"It'll be ok, you'll have us and your family and you know they'll let him come back and visit in a few months." Ivory whispered, trying to calm Katniss.

"I know. I just don't want him to leave. I don't want to be left here with Coin because I know she'll try to tear us apart like she's been trying to do ever since we got here." She whispered, not wanting the two little children to hear this.

"It'll be ok, Katniss. You two are meant for each other, you've proved that you'll always find each other." Crucius assured her as they pulled away.

She nodded, taking in a shaky breath.

"Here, let's go fix your make up." Ivory said, getting her to stand up and leading her into the bedroom.

She sat her on the bed and fixed it.

"I don't want to wear these damn heels." Katniss said, throwing them on the ground.

Ivory smiled and went into the closet before bringing out a pair of black flats.

"If anyone asks, you didn't get them from me." she said with a wink.

"Thanks." She said with a grin.

"No problem." Ivory shrugged, finishing her make up and then standing up.

"There, good as new." She said with a grin.

"Thanks, Ivory." Katniss said with a soft smile.

She began to answer when a loud knock sounded on the door.

"I'd be willing to bet that's for me." Katniss said, standing up and walking to the door.

Two guards stood there.

"Come with us." They said gruffly.

She glared at them before waving at the family and stepping out with them. They led her in the direction of the entrance to the bunker. Coin stood there with a few of her advisors and the military leaders, including Boggs. She scowled at Katniss when she walked up to them.

"Running away was not smart, Miss Everdeen." She said critically, glaring up and down at her.

"Maybe, President Coin…" Katniss spat her name.

"… you need to realize that not everyone is at your beck and call. I sure as hell am not going to be." Katniss fired back, glaring right back at her.

"Careful, Katniss. You aren't always going to get away with that tone of voice with me. Fortunately for you, I'm letting you off for your actions since I know you're grieving for the loss of your lover." Coin said.

"Fortunately for you, I'm going to choose to overlook you trying to keep me away from him today." Katniss said with a raised eyebrow.

"Where are your heels?" the other woman demanded.

"I know of no such heels. You know, my 'lover' might just have to lift me up when I give him a thorough goodbye kiss. Best keep the cameras away from us if you don't want the kiddies at home to see something inappropriate. And yes, President Coin, I am wearing lace underneath." She said, winking at the woman before turning to walk away.

Her cold hand caught Katniss' wrist.

"Watch yourself, Miss Everdeen. Accidents happen. Both here and at the army base. People are here which shouldn't be. Dangerous people. I'd hate to see someone you love hurt." Coin said, getting right in her face.

"And I'd hate to see you dead, oh wait…" Katniss said, wrenching her arm away from her and turning to see people drifting towards them, families of those who were leaving for the army base.

She recognized everyone, having talked to many of them over the last month. She walked to her own family, standing beside Cato's family talking quietly. Prim immediately embraced her, knowing the terror and heartbreak she must have been feeling. She watched as Castor and Pollux set up the camera to film the goodbye scene. When she heard heavy footfalls coming down the hallway, she looked around to see them coming towards them. They were wearing black army uniforms. All of them looked solemn but silent fear flashed in their eyes.

When their eyes met, Katniss didn't wait a moment before launching at him. She was the first to reach them and she threw her arms around him, crying before she even had her face buried in his chest. The others scattered, giving the camera a good view of them as she was sure they were instructed to do. He stroked her hair softly as she cried into his shirt. When she looked up at him, his eyes were so full of love, fear, and anger that it almost overwhelmed her.

"Please kiss me." she whimpered.

He didn't even wait a second to adhere to her request, picking her up, much to her amusement when she heard the gasps as she wrapped her legs around his waist and hooked her ankles together. When their lips met, everything else melted. They kissed like they never kissed before, soft and lovingly but at the same time passionately and fiery. Her hands met at the back of his neck and she pulled him ever closer, not hesitating to kiss him like she wanted to despite the watching eyes.

When she pulled away, they just looked into each other's eyes. The emotion hung between them, still unspoken. When he let her down, she wiped her eyes quickly and unwillingly turned away from him to face everyone else. Glimmer was the first body she found to hug.

"I can't believe I'm leaving you." she cried.

They'd truly become best friends, which was easily predictable considering their tendency to gravitate towards each other when they needed to talk.

"I know." Katniss whispered, tears still falling freely.

"Love you, Kat." She said, pulling away.

"Love you too." She said before she was swept up into a hug by Marvel.

"You take care of Glimmer, you hear me?" Katniss demanded, looking into his sneaky and sarcastic eyes.

"Of course I will." He said, turning to look at the blonde girl.

There was something in his eyes. Something that made her sure that something going to happen there at the army base.

"Treat her right." she warned him before moving on.

By the time she got to Peeta, they looked at each other awkwardly before smiling and hugging.

"Take care, you have a lot of people depending on you." she said to him.

"You too, don't let Coin get to you." he said.

"You mean, don't kill her?" Katniss asked, laughing through her tears.

The next person who appeared in front of her was Gale. They both looked unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, looking down.

Katniss bit her lip and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, Gale. The past is the past and we can't change it." she said forgivingly, giving him a short but emotional hug.

"I still love you, Catnip." He whispered as she drew away.

"I know, Gale."

"By firegirl." A voice came from behind her.

She laughed and turned to look at Clove.

"I'm not hugging you." the dark haired Career said, shaking her head.

"That's fine." Katniss shrugged, grinning at her.

"Oh fuck it." Clove growled, hugging her against her better judgment.

"I knew you liked me more than you let on." Katniss said, patting her back before backing away.

"Yeah whatever. I'll take care of the group up there if you take care of the group here. Look after everyone." Clove said.

"You too." Katniss nodded.

"It's time!" Coin announced, clapping her hands.

Katniss felt her heart drop and she turned to seek him out. He was already there. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Stay safe." He murmured, stroking her cheek.

"You too." She whispered back, clutching at his shirt.

"I gotta go." he said, looking to where the other new soldiers were being ushered out.

Katniss sighed and unwillingly let go of him. He gave her one last kiss and held his head high as he walked past her. A sob escaped from her throat as she saw both her family and his coming forward to comfort her.

"Cato!" she cried, whirling around to see him do the same.

She ran to him and jumped into his arms, pressing her lips to his once more, kissing him as deeply and passionately as she could. When she pulled away, she didn't give him a chance to say anything.

"I love you more than anything." she said, her voice full of tears and emotion.

He let out a breath that he seemed to have been holding for an entire month. They finally broke through. It had been said.

"I love you too, Katniss Everdeen. Don't you ever forget it." he said, pressing his forehead against hers before kissing her once more, soft and sweet.

Then he set her back on her feet and turned to walk out. She smiled through her flowing tears as he walked out. Then she let herself be embraced by who knows how many people. As she looked around to see the supportive glances of her family and the families of the other tributes and the severe glances of Coin and her people, she couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow was bringing.

But whatever the hell happened, Omnia Vincit Amor. Love would always conquer all, be it the Capitol or Coin. Her and Cato would be together.

**Author's Note: I tried to write it fast before the power went out. Review please! This part is over but the story is just beginning. A lot is going to happen! Love you all and I can't wait to start the sequel!**


	36. SEQUEL

I've just published the new part of the story! It's called 'Whatever the Cost May Be'. I hope you can find it soon, and if not I will try to put a link up.

**The rest of the tributes have left for the army base and Katniss is left behind to train. Katniss finds herself protecting not only herself and her family, but many others as well against enemies both in the outside world and in the District 13 bunker. Katniss/Cato **


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